Police & Prison
Potential for threats from Trump in 14th Amendment case sways Colorado judge
A lawyer for plaintiffs who are suing to block former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Colorado presidential ballot persuaded a judge to enter a protective order for witnesses and other people involved in the lawsuit, largely based on Trump’s history of “inflammatory” statements around other cases in which he is a defendant. Denver District […]
MDC seeks $2.1M under N.M. emergency order that sends more state patrols to Albuquerque
More police are patrolling Albuquerque under the state’s recent gun-violence public health order, potentially sending hundreds more people to the Metropolitan Detention Center in the coming weeks, so the short-staffed local jail is asking for millions in funding. MDC will likely see a spike in the number of people being incarcerated before they go to […]
Threats proliferate on social media following N.M. gun ban
A Source New Mexico review of posts on social media by elected officials and other users following the public health order issued in New Mexico on Sept. 8 shows numerous calls for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to be hanged or killed by other means, and for the publication of private information about Lujan Grisham, her […]
Federal judge backs pause on New Mexico public firearm restrictions with legal precedent
As rain turned to hail on the windows of a courtroom in Albuquerque on Wednesday, a federal judge told a tense and silent audience he decided to temporarily suspend public firearm restrictions New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham put in place last week. This order came as a response to gun violence in New Mexico, […]
‘I just want to free my dad,’ Leonard Peltier
WHITE HOUSE — A young Indigenous girl walked through Lafayette Park in front of the White House with an American Indian Movement flag. Her tiny frame held the six-foot bamboo stake steady as the flag blew in the wind. A stark reminder of how many generations the movement to free Leonard Peltier from prison has […]
New Mexico AG grants limited authority to attorneys defending public health order
New Mexico’s Attorney General Raúl Torrez will not defend the state government against any challenges to the public health order issued Sept. 8, but administration lawyers and outside counsel still can. In a letter on Tuesday to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Torrez said he cannot defend her and the state’s health secretary in court because […]
N.M. public health order isn’t only about guns
Media and public attention has so far focused mostly on the parts of the New Mexico public health order related to firearms. The executive action signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week does a number of other things. One of the two executive orders that provide the rationale for the public health order is […]
No clear penalty for violating N.M. public health order on guns
The New Mexico government on Friday enacted a public health order prohibiting people from possessing firearms in public, but could not say what penalties people will face for violating the new directive. New Mexico Health Secretary Patrick Allen signed a public health emergency order prohibiting anyone from possessing a firearm, either openly or concealed, in […]
N.M. governor declares state of emergency over gun violence
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order saying gun violence in the state “constitutes a statewide public health emergency of unknown duration.” The order issued on Sept. 8 encourages local mayors and sheriff’s offices to ask for “an emergency proclamation and implementation of temporary additional restrictions” under the state Riot Control Act. […]
Oñate monument shooter delays sentencing to November
The 2020 Oñate monument shooter will get to experience at least one more New Mexico autumn before he faces any accountability from the criminal legal system. Video taken on June 15, 2020 shows Steven Ray Baca pushing a woman from behind to the ground, injuring her legs; macing a man in the face; pushing a […]
Trump pleads not guilty, waives arraignment in Georgia 2020 election interference case
Former President Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea on Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court on 13 felony counts that charge him with racketeering for attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. In the court filing on Thursday, Trump also voluntarily waived his right to an arraignment hearing scheduled for Wednesday in […]
Three years after landmark ruling, Congress silent on tribal jurisdiction in Oklahoma
After a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling defined much of Eastern Oklahoma as a Native American reservation, limiting state jurisdiction over tribal citizens, Congress has taken little interest in addressing the issues the tribes and state officials say the court decision has raised. The 5-4 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma held that lands the federal […]