New Mexico lawmaker pleads not guilty, won't seek reelection – By Cedar Attanasio, Associated Press / Report for America
A New Mexico lawmaker charged with drunken driving during this year's Legislative session won't seek reelection, according to. a statement from her lawyer.
"It has been an honor to serve the constituents of House District 26 for the past ten years. I have decided not to seek re-election in 2022. I send my sincerest thank you to everyone who has supported me over my tenure as State Representative," Albuquerque Rep. Georgene Louis said, a statement shared by her attorney, Kitren Fischer.
Republican lawmakers called in Louis to resign following her arrest. She missed a Legislative hearing at a committee she chairs shortly after the arrest. She later cast votes remotely after making bail but wasn't seen inside the Capitol for the rest of the legislative session.
Louis, a lawyer for Tesuque Pueblo and a one-time congressional candidate, was seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
She initially apologized following her arrest but hasn't commented on details later revealed in a video of it, like the fact that she flashed her lawmaker credentials to the officer.
The story was first reported by the Albuquerque Journal. The paper reports that Louis pleaded not guilty to the drunken driving charge and is scheduled to appear in court on March 16.
EXPLAINER: What does Texas' data on abortions say about law? – By Jamie Stengle, Associated Press
Texas has released data showing a marked drop in abortions at clinics in the state in the first month under the nation's strictest abortion law, but that only tells part of the story.
A study released Friday showing a jump in requests from Texans for abortion pills by mail is helping complete the picture, as will learning more about the number of women who went to clinics outside the state, and how many who were unable to get abortions ended up giving birth.
"I think a big question is: What's the new composition of how people are accessing abortion care?" said Abigail Aiken, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies reproductive health and who led the study looking at requests for abortion medication by mail.
Here's a look at what the numbers that have been released so far do — and don't — tell us:
WHAT DO THE RECENTLY RELEASED NUMBERS SHOW?
Nearly 2,200 abortions were reported by Texas providers in September, the month the state's new law took effect that bans the procedure once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks into a pregnancy. There are no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
That's a 60% drop from the month before.
Researchers note, though, that the number of abortions reported in August — over 5,400 — was higher than usual for that month, likely because clinics were rushing to get women in before the law took effect. So, they say, it's also useful to compare September's data to the same month a year earlier, which shows a drop of 51%.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which released the September figures this month, is releasing data on abortions on a monthly basis.
WHAT DID ABORTION PROVIDERS EXPECT?
Abortion providers had predicted that the law would bar at least 85% of abortions in Texas since, traditionally, most women were at least six weeks into their pregnancy when they had an abortion. And figures from the state show that in 2020, only about 15% of abortions were done at less than six weeks.
So why wasn't there an even bigger drop in abortions in September?
Researchers say a combination of factors were apparently at play, including women scrambling to schedule appointments as soon as possible rather than when it might be most convenient.
"We see people coming to us before they've even done a pregnancy test, before they even know if they're pregnant, because they're so afraid that they might be pregnant and they will be denied an abortion," said Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman's Heath, which operates four abortion clinics in Texas.
Also, researchers say, the attention drawn to the new law resulted in an influx of funds to help women pay for out-of-state travel and medical fees.
"We don't see as many people being pushed further into pregnancy because they're trying to figure out how to pay for the abortion," Hagstrom Miller said.
HOW MANY WOMEN ARE GETTING ABORTION PILLS BY MAIL IN TEXAS?
The number of Texas women who are going online to get abortion pills by mail from the overseas nonprofit Aid Access sharply increased after the law took effect, according to the study led by Aiken.
"We can't say to what extent exactly as a percentage the gap has been filled, but I think we can say that self-managed abortion has been important in filling it," Aiken said.
The study, published Friday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, found that Aid Access got 1,831 requests for the pills from people in Texas in September.
During the first week of September, requests per day jumped to about 138 compared to a previous average of 11, the study said. Over the subsequent weeks in September, requests averaged 37 a day. Then, through December, the average was 30 per day.
"It's another demonstration of the fact that just because you restrict abortion, the need for abortion does not magically go away," Aiken said.
The study's authors, who note they can't determine if all the requests resulted in abortions, said it's likely the initial dramatic spike was due to confusion as the law went into effect and some who requested pills may have ended up going to a clinic.
Though a Texas law banning the delivery of such abortion-inducing medication by mail took effect in December, experts say there would be difficulty in stopping providers and suppliers outside of the state and country.
The law says the person taking the pills obtained by mail isn't criminally liable.
"It's not illegal to be the one that orders the pills and uses the pills," said Sara Ainsworth, senior legal and policy director for If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice.
She added that "it's unclear whether or not that Texas law could be used to go after somebody who mailed drugs into Texas from somewhere else."
HOW MANY WOMEN ARE GOING TO CLINICS OUT OF STATE FOR ABORTIONS?
Abortion clinics from states surrounding Texas have reported sharp increases in the number of patients from Texas since the new law took effect, so much so at times that residents of those states must seek abortions elsewhere.
One clue comes from a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looking at what happened when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott all but banned abortions for about a month in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Kari White, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin who leads the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, which studies the impact of reproductive health policies in Texas, said the research found that during that time the number of women going out of state increased to about 950 compared to about 160 previously.
Planned Parenthood said Thursday that from September through December last year, states surrounding Texas saw a nearly 800% increase in abortion patients from Texas. It declined to provide the actual number of patients that made up that increase.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WHO SOUGHT ABORTIONS HAD TO GIVE BIRTH?
That's unclear, too. Comparing the usual number of births in Texas with the number of births this year may eventually shed some light.
"I think that's a big unknown," White said, "and we won't know it for some time."
WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE?
In a ruling expected later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled a willingness to weaken or reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a right to an abortion, and more than 20 states already have laws on the books to ban or dramatically restrict abortion if it's overturned.
Restrictions or bans in states surrounding Texas could mean residents would have to travel even farther.
"It could be that Texas is just a taste of what's to come," said Rachel K. Jones, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups in Texas have been celebrating the lives they say have been saved by Texas' law, and anticipating the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
"Our impact is only just beginning," said Texas Right to Life spokeswoman Kimberlyn Schwartz.
Albuquerque police name 16-year-old shot near his school – By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Police have released the identity of a teenager who was shot and killed across the street from an Albuquerque school on Friday morning.
The shooting of Andrew Burson, 16, prompted a temporary lockdown of the school and a search for the suspect.
Authorities said during a news conference that the shooting appeared to have stemmed from an altercation between the West Mesa High School student and another person who was believed to be a juvenile.
City and school officials said the gun was not brought onto campus but that more needs to be done to ensure that children don't have access to firearms.
District Attorney Raúl Torrez and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, both Democrats, were among those who pushed for tougher gun laws during the recent legislative session. That included a failed measure that would have enhanced the charge of possession of a firearm by a minor to a felony rather than a misdemeanor, which does not require prosecutors to be notified.
Keller said the case marks another example in the last six months of a deadly shooting involving juveniles.
"The connection between juveniles and weapons is extremely dangerous. It's also something that we have to work on in our criminal justice system," Keller said. "Right now we just do not have adequate tools to deal with a juvenile who we know has a firearm and how to keep them off the street or how to get them safe and keep everyone safe from them."
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection, also issued a statement Friday on the shooting death, calling gun violence a scourge on society, particularly among young people.
Crime has been a hot-button issue in New Mexico, where Republicans have criticized the governor and the Democratic-controlled Legislature for not doing enough in recent years to crack down through tougher penalties and other measures.
Albuquerque police said early Friday that the investigation was in the early stages and they did not know the relationship between the student and the suspect or what might have sparked the altercation. They did say they did not believe there was any further threat and they hoped to make an arrest soon.
Late Friday afternoon, Albuquerque school district officials announced on Twitter that there would be no classes for West Mesa High School on Monday, though staff and counselors would be available.
Medina also acknowledged the city's ongoing battle with violent crime, saying it will take a concerted effort across the criminal justice system and through prevention efforts to turn the tide.
In 2021, Albuquerque shattered its homicide record, reaching a total of 117 within city limits. The previous record was set in 2019, when there were 81 homicides, with one of those being investigated by federal authorities. The total dipped to 77 in 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
Appeals court: Politician's Facebook feed not a public forum – By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
The 10th Circuit Court in Denver sided with Griffin in the dispute over his social media account and whether it functioned as a public forum concerning county affairs, with implied guarantees to public access and free speech.
Griffin, an elected commissioner in southern New Mexico's Otero County, was suspended indefinitely from Facebook in the aftermath of his arrest in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, where he appeared on an outdoor terrace and tried to lead the crowd in prayer. But the legal dispute over his social media account has persisted.
Three judges from the appeals court ruled unanimously that plaintiff Jeff Swanson, chairman of the Otero County Democratic Party, failed to show that the law has determined when a personal social media profile becomes a public forum, with 1st Amendment protections.
Griffin on Friday applauded the appeals court order and highlighted that he used his Facebook page to express personal opinions as just one member of a three-member county commission.
"We have the right now to 'block' people on our own private platforms," Griffin said Friday of the appeals court order. "It's a great verdict and will be excellent case law towards the mark of freedom of speech and expression."
A. Blair Dunn, an attorney for Swanson, said he plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
Swanson, a Marine veteran and church chaplain, said Friday that elected leaders should not be able to shut out the electorate from political conversations on social media. Swanson said he was cut off from Griffin's Facebook profile after criticizing the commissioner for neglecting county obligations such as upkeep of a courthouse and urging Griffin to not mix politics and religion.
"When the leaders or the representatives block other people from dialogue on common social media, that shuts off the political input of the citizens," Swanson said. "I'm very direct, but I didn't swear at him" on social media.
The case follows in the footsteps of litigation that challenged former President Donald Trump's efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account — in a case that was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term in January 2021.
Griffin is facing misdemeanor criminal charges in the Jan. 6. insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, where he appeared on an outdoor terrace and tried to lead the crowd in prayer.
Griffin denies allegations that he knowingly entered barricaded areas of the Capitol grounds with the intent of disrupting government as Congress considered the 2020 Electoral College results, though he has openly ascribed to unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
New Mexico delegation voices concern about FAA tracking rule – Associated Press
Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are calling on federal aviation officials to waive a requirement that could affect the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta as well as year-round flights over the city.
A letter outlining the concerns was sent Thursday to the Federal Aviation Administration by Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury and U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, all Democrats.
Republican Congresswoman Yvette Herrell also penned her own letter on Wednesday, writing that the economic impact of the fiesta and the balloon industry provides millions of dollars and supports stable jobs for the community.
"In this case, the hot air balloon industry faces the prospect of abandoning a storied state tradition close to the hearts of New Mexicans," she wrote. "It is vital that this tradition be preserved in its entirety and thrive for generations to come."
At issue is a requirement that aircraft have specific tracking technology. The federal rule requiring "automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast" equipment inside certain airspaces took effect in 2020, but some balloonists have said it was not enforced actively until September 2021.
The FAA granted a waiver for last year's fiesta, and event officials are seeking a similar exemption for this year's 50th anniversary celebration. Some advocates are asking for a permanent exemption.
The congressional delegates noted in their letters that the FAA has granted a permanent waiver to the Colorado Springs ballooning community.
The surveillance technology is different from the transponders that balloonists can install temporarily so they can be seen on radar by Air Traffic Control. Under the rule, it must be permanently integrated into an aircraft's onboard electrical system.
Balloonists note that their aircraft don't have permanent electrical systems.
Heinrich, Lujan and Stansbury noted in their letter that the FAA adopted the tracking requirement with the intent of improving safety by decreasing the likelihood of midair collisions. They wrote that since the inception of the balloon fiesta decades ago, that balloon pilots have relied on visual flight rules to keep themselves and their passengers safe and that there have been no midair balloon-aircraft collisions.
In a response to a separate request for a waiver from Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, a local FAA official said the agency has convened a work group to study the matter, the Albuquerque Journal reported.