Results of ACLU public records request reveal New Mexico is finally tackling the Hepatitis C epidemic
By Davida Gallegos , Senior Communications Strategist , Communications
House Bill 4 (HB 4) creates the “New Mexico Civil Rights Act.” The Act gives a person who claims deprivation of “rights, privileges or immunities” secured by the New Mexico Constitution the right to bring a lawsuit in state district court and recover actual damages and injunctive relief. In addition to actual damages, the Act provides that a person who prevails in a lawsuit brought under the Act is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses. The Act prohibits a public body, or those acting on the public body’s behalf who are sued under the Act from using “qualified immunity” as a defense.
A group of leading civil rights attorneys gathers for a discussion of the impact on New Mexico of the George Floyd murder and subsequent conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death at the hand of Minneapolis Police spurred a New Mexico law that addresses legal protections for police officers.
In the wake of this powerful time, movement, and tragedy of George Floyd’s death we must remember the words and wisdom of those who have fought for freedom. Nelson Mandela stated, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Oftentimes in taking the deposition of law enforcement or correction officials they state that they have been trained that aggression and force is the way to control any situation. We must change this. We must…
By MARY HUDETZ June 27, 2019 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A private prison company plans to end its contract to manage a corrections facility in a remote corner of New Mexico starting in the fall, paving the way for the state to begin running the medium-security prison that houses male inmates. The GEO Group, a Florida-based company that currently operates three out of 11 prisons in the state, made the decision to end its contract for the Northeast New Mexico…
A state inmate formerly housed at the Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Grants is suing the company that operates the prison, claiming officials allowed six other inmates to assault him for more than 10 minutes without intervening and didn’t provide him care for injuries he received during the attack for about a week. Leonard Lucero, 44, says in his complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court that a corrections officer employed by CoreCivic played a role in the…
RENO, Nevada — Locked away in a Nevada county jail for failing to take care of her traffic tickets, 27-year-old Kelly Coltrain asked to go to the hospital. Instead, as her condition worsened, she was handed a mop and told to clean up her own vomit. She died in her jail cell less than an hour later. Despite being in a video-monitored cell, Mineral County Sheriff’s deputies did not recognize that Coltrain had suffered an apparent seizure and had not moved for more than…
One day after prosecutors in the Central Valley cleared a police officer in the fatal shooting of a parolee, attorneys for the man’s family released graphic camera footage showing the officer firing 11 bullets into the man, including several that hit him in the back as he rolled on the ground. Police in Manteca (San Joaquin County) say the officer opened fire after seeing a knife in the man’s hand as the suspect got out of a pickup truck, and that a knife…
The short film “10 Rules for Dealing With Police” opens with an unfortunate but common scene: A young black man in a little red car, rap music blasting, is driving down a gritty highway at night, minding his own business, thumping to a beat. A police car pulls behind him. The man becomes agitated as he stops, muttering under his breath, “I am tired of this [expletive].” By the time the officer gets to his window and shines the flashlight,…
Omega, Georgia: The police chief was sentenced to two years in prison for slapping and punching an inmate at a county jail. “There was no excuse for this use of force on a restrained individual and excessive force by those sworn to uphold the law will not be tolerated. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute law enforcement officers who violate the constitutional rights of others,” said the Assistant Attorney General. Full article here.