Medical care at largest jail in NM to go public — By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
New Mexico’s flagship hospital is expected this summer to begin sending its staff to treat people incarcerated while awaiting trial in the state’s largest jail.
An advisory panel for the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County on Wednesday night endorsed a proposal to no longer rely on private companies to provide health care, and instead partner with the University of New Mexico Hospital as part of an effort to provide adequate medical treatment to people held inside.
According to Bernalillo County officials, the work with UNM Hospital will help the local government comply with its obligations under the settlement agreement and court orders in McClendon v. Albuquerque, the decades-long class action lawsuit against the jail and the police who take people there.
The county’s Detention Center Advisory Board voted on Wednesday to endorse a Joint Powers Agreement, which states Bernalillo County and the hospital “desire to work together” to achieve “substantial compliance” with the mental health and medical aspects of the settlement in McClendon.
Before the vote, Bernalillo County Attorney Ken Martinez told the advisory board that the way medical treatment will be given to people in the jail is changing from private to public.
“Not trying to speak bad about private business, nonprofits, or anything like that but this is two governments working together to provide essentially government services, treatment of folks that are in jail, and make sure it’s done well,” Martinez told the Board at their regular meeting.
Unlike the government, Martinez said, a privately run medical provider must keep their shareholders happy.
“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s unique challenges in that,” Martinez said. “Those won’t be the same challenges and focuses that will be between two governments whose duty, really, is to care for its citizens.”
The UNM Board of Regents and the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners each voted to approve the partnership in April.
The Joint Powers Agreement, if it becomes final, would create the Metropolitan Detention Center Health Care Authority, whose purpose would be to “co-manage” mental health and medical treatment at the jail.
The MDC Health Care Authority would be governed by a newly created six-member board, with equal membership from the hospital and the county.
The Joint Powers Agreement requires the approval of the cabinet secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, Martinez said.
“It’s ready for signature,” he said.
DFA Secretary Wayne Propst did not respond to an email seeking comment on Thursday.
Parrish Collins, a civil rights attorney who represents four clients involving the local jail and numerous others held in state prisons, reviewed the Joint Powers Agreement on Thursday.
He said all medical personnel should go through a “vigorous rehiring process.”
“Guards and other county personnel must have a duty to report clear medical concerns,” Parrish said. “Otherwise, UNM will end up facing lawsuits regarding matters over which they had no knowledge.”
There is not yet a contract to determine how much Bernalillo county will pay UNM Hospital for the treatment. The Joint Powers Agreement states the amount will come from “a separately negotiated services agreement.”
Bernalillo county’s current contract with YesCare, formerly known as Corizon Health, has been terminated and will end on July 25, according to the county.
Martinez said county officials started negotiations with UNM “from the last amount we were paying the current provider, and work from there,” Martinez said. The county’s contract with YesCare totaled $64.8 million
“I think that’s a very fair way to start,” Martinez said.
U.S. District Court Judge James Browning on Jan. 17 approved a settlement agreement between the plaintiffs in McClendon and Bernalillo County which says experts appointed by the court will come up with plans to improve specialty care, sick calls and intake screening for people experiencing mental illness who are held in the jail.
The settlement agreement requires the plans to include a process for prompt assessment of people experiencing mental illness who may need a higher level of care, and for jail officials to work with local mental health care providers including UNM Hospital.
“It is extremely important that UNM gets all the support it needs,” Parrish said. “This needs to be successful. Failure cannot be an option.”
Fired New Mexico archaeological official sues governor, others - Associated Press
The former director of the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies is suing state officials, saying his race and gender played a role in his firing.
Eric Blinman filed a lawsuit in federal court late Thursday against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, state Cultural Affairs Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego, and several others, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
In the suit, Blinman alleges Garcia y Griego wrongfully terminated him because he was an older white man who complained about a lack of resources to do his job.
He also claims his firing was retaliation because he told a human resources director, who is a defendant, in confidence about his suspicions of improper conduct by Garcia y Griego.
He is asking for an unspecified sum for wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
Daniel Zillmann, a Department of Cultural Affairs spokesperson, called the allegations "untrue and unfounded." There was "sound and carefully considered reasoning behind the termination of Dr. Blinman."
A representative for the office of Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, did not respond to a message seeking comment Thursday night.
More setbacks in New Mexico’s effort to launch solar energy program - By Megan Gleason,Source New Mexico
New Mexico’s community solar program is stalled again as more allegations arise against the process to pick developers to bring solar energy to the state.
People seeking to set up solar farms for the program are held up by mistakes from a third party company hired to review applications, and it’s unclear when all of the potential issues will be resolved in order to move community solar projects forward.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission is looking into new claims against InClime about improper rankings and errors allegedly made while the company assessed hundreds of community solar applications.
The state contracted InClime in August 2022 to help decide what solar developers get to be part of New Mexico’s community solar program. InClime set up a proposal request process for interested developers, and then it was up to the company to then rank the applications submitted.
Last year, the PRC announced a timeline where developers would be chosen by March or April 2023.
Now, InClime cannot announce which solar developers are chosen under the process until the PRC looks into the new complaints against the company, according to PRC chief of staff Cholla Khoury.
She said the delay is “due to the need to ensure all protests are dealt with appropriately, and in a manner that is in the best interest of New Mexico.”
It’s unclear when InClime will announce the developers going forward in the community solar program.
“While the commission is dedicated to ensuring the process moves along in an efficient and timely manner, we are committed to ensuring it is fair and accountable,” Khoury said.
This is the second week in a row community solar developers will have to wait to find out the fate of their application.
On May 9, the PRC ordered InClime to rescore nearly three dozen applicants whose bids the company may have incorrectly ranked due to technical errors.
The company gave itself a week to finish new reviews and announce winners on May 16.
And since then, two more companies that applied to be part of community solar have filed complaints with the PRC alleging more assessment or scoring mistakes.
Not all of the community solar applicants agree with the delay the complaints have caused.
Corrina Kumpe is the chief operating officer of SunShare.
Before a PRC meeting on Wednesday, she submitted a written public comment to the commission that commended InClime’s proposal application process and said applicants had the opportunity to discuss issues with the scoring scale before results came out.
“While the NM PRC has heard from a few vocal opponents who only objected to the scoring methodology after receiving their points, we wanted to let you know that those bidders don’t represent the entirety of the bidder pool,” she wrote.
Kumpe encouraged the PRC to adhere to InClime’s application process as it was originally laid out and approved by the commission.
Jim DesJardins, executive director of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico, voiced more concern about the delays during his public comment on Wednesday.
His renewable energy association includes community solar developers who have applied to be part of the program — one of which filed one of the more recent complaints against InClime.
He said his association is excited about the future of community solar in New Mexico but that the ongoing setbacks are hurting those that want to participate.
Developers or companies that want to be involved in the project have time constraints, like with lease agreements or coordination of labor, and financial arrangements that will only get more expensive over time with rising interest rates, he said.
“Recent delays in the awarding of the projects and the subsequent uncertainty is creating undue hardship,” DesJardins said.
He asked the PRC to prioritize the community solar program rollout and offered to help in any way possible.
“To ensure the success of the initial phase of community solar, we are asking the commission to make the issuance of project awards the highest priority,” he said.
Reps. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque) and Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) were sponsors of the Community Solar Act when it passed in the Roundhouse. They said in a joint email statement that they’re still confident in the process of the program getting set up.
“We are eager to see the results in our communities with the new opportunities community solar is bringing and will continue to bring forth,” Roybal Caballero and Romero said.
The representatives also mentioned that the community solar bill itself took years to pass through the Legislature. It failed multiple times before 2021.
“While the legislation took years of effort to get right before its passage, we are confident in the regulators and industry to find the best pathways to success possible,” they said.
'Rust' weapons supervisor wants charges dropped in Alec Baldwin shooting - By Andrew Dalton And Morgan Lee Associated Press
Attorneys for the weapons supervisor on the New Mexico film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer asked a judge Thursday to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter charge, as Baldwin's was last month.
The motion filed in Santa Fe County court from lawyers for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the Western "Rust," says that the prosecutors who brought the charge did not have the authority to file it, that the investigation was sloppy and improper, and that Gutierrez-Reed's due process rights were violated.
Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the New Mexico film set in October 2021 when it went off, killing her and wounding the film's director Joel Souza.
In January of this year, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed were each charged with involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin's charge was dropped on April 21 by new special prosecutors who had taken over the case. They cited new evidence and the need for more time to investigate, and warned he could be charged anew.
Thursday's filing alleges that Gutierrez-Reed's prosecution was "tainted by improper political motives" and says that Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and the initial special prosecutor she appointed, Andrea Reeb, "both used the tragic film set accident that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins as an opportunity to advance their personal interests."
The motion asserts that the two did not have the authority to bring the charges because New Mexico law prohibits a district attorney from remaining on a case after a special prosecutor is assigned. It also says the appointment of Reeb, a state legislator, was a violation of separation of powers law.
Reeb and Carmack-Altwies could not be reached immediately for comment.
Conflict allegations against Reeb were first raised by Baldwin before she stepped down from the shooting investigation. A district court judge ruled in March that Carmack-Altwies should either lead the case on her own or turn it over entirely to another prosecutor — which she did.
The defense lawyers also contend that the permanent damage done to the gun by FBI testing before the defense could examine it amounted to destruction of evidence and a violation of the court's rules of discovery.
"They directed a sloppy investigation in which key evidence was destroyed," the motion says, and "made overly aggressive charging decisions."
The filing alleges that the "selective prosecution" of Gutierrez-Reed is a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.
New special prosecutor Kari Morrissey declined through a receptionist to comment on the motion, and indicated that a response will be filed with the court.
In March, "Rust" safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the fatal shooting.
"Rust" resumed shooting last month, and has been looking for international buyers at the Cannes Film Festival.
Videos show gunman saying 'kill me' to onrushing officers in New Mexico rampage - By Morgan Lee, Susan Montoya Bryan And Anita Snow Associated Press
Videos released Thursday of this week's deadly rampage in northwest New Mexico recorded a voice said to be the shooter urging police to "kill me" and officers rushing toward the 18-year-old gunman before fatally shooting him outside a church.
"He is yelling on the Ring footage, 'Come kill me,'" Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said of Beau Wilson, the high school senior who authorities say killed three older women during the attack.
"He's making a stand, he has opportunities to run off, he does not use those opportunities," Hebbe said. "So yes it's my belief that ultimately in his head, he has made the decision that he is going to stand and fight it out until he is killed."
Three older woman were killed Monday by the shooter, including a mother and daughter who happened to be driving through the neighborhood. The victims were identified as longtime Farmington residents Gwendolyn Dean Schofield, 97, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.
At least six other people were wounded in the shootings, which sent waves of grief rippling through the community of 50,000 people. They included two police officers, who have been released from medical care as they recover.
Hebbe's comments mirrored an account from witness Candi Brammell, who lives next to the church and told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that the gunman seemed to be egging police on, saying: "Come on!"
Brammell said she couldn't believe what she was seeing as Wilson opened fire. Within an instant, he was exchanging shots with the police and then was down in the grass.
Wilson lived with his father in a home that contained an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, apparently legally owned, according to law enforcement authorities. He bought an assault-style rifle last year after he turned 18.
On Monday, police say, he began shooting indiscriminately with the rifle from the front porch area of the home.
The first person hit was Voita, a retired school nurse who was driving by. Video released by police showed her car rolling down the street with the door open after she managed to get out.
Video also showed the path of a vehicle carrying Schofield and Ivie, who stopped to help. Schofield was a teacher her entire career, and Melody followed in her footsteps by running a preschool for 40 years.
"They see something in the road, which turns out to be (Voita), and they're in the process of pulling over" when another hail of gunfire erupts, Hebbe said, narrating the images. "At that time we believe all those rounds are fired from (the rifle)."
Police say Wilson soon dropped the weapon into some bushes even though it still held more live ammunition.
Wilson then walked down the street for about a quarter mile, spraying bullets indiscriminately using two pistols. He discharged a .22-caliber gun and then depleted rounds from a 9-mm weapon in the final shootout with police, during which he let off at least 18 rounds.
He wore what appeared to be a modified protective vest with steel plates, but authorities say he discarded the vest before the shootout with police.
Police body camera video showed the perspective of one officer walking and running down the middle of the residential street, readying an assault rifle in one hand while barking commands into a radio in the other. On the run, he takes cues from a local resident and a dog runs beside them.
That video is later partially obscured, but a shadow on the ground shows the officer bracing in firing position for the final confrontation.
"I have eyes on the suspect. He's walking south. He's wearing all black," an officer tells dispatchers in another video segment.
He then yells, "Farmington police! Let's see your hands!"
A police car speeds by with flashing lights and sirens.
Video from the body camera of Sgt. Rachel Discenza showed her pointing her handgun toward where the suspect was standing. Amid an exchange of gunfire, she falls to the ground, and says: "I'm shot."
She struggles unsuccessfully to get up, and a fellow officer uses her belt as a tourniquet.
"We got one hit. Get me a medic here for sarge," he yells.
In the grass in front of the church, officers rush to the suspect after the gunfire subsides, telling him not to move. One officer cuffs him, while another says, "Subject is down. He is secured."
A note was later found in the pocket of the discarded vest that said, "If your reading this im the end of the chapter.
The gunman's body was left in the grass for a time as investigators worked the scene, and it was unclear then how many times he was shot.
Police said earlier this week that they couldn't say how many gunshot wounds the victims had suffered and were waiting on the medical investigator's report, which had not been made public as of Thursday.
Neighbor Bryan Brown, who was among those who ran to render first aid, told AP that Voita had gunshot wounds to the leg and the head.
Relatives of the three slain women said each left an indelible mark that will continue to shape the lives of others.
"In immeasurable ways, this heart-wrenching incident has impacted not only our family, but those of the Voita and Wilson families," the Schofield and Ivie family said Thursday in a statement. "We have a shared grief and ask for continued prayers and privacy as we embody the faith, grace and love of our mother and grandmother and embark on a path of healing and forgiveness."
Police have been probing for motivations behind Monday's rampage, which took place the day before Wilson was due to graduate from high school, amid some indications from relatives of prior mental health issues.
Efforts were underway by authorities to access medical and school records that might shed light on his mental history.
New Mexico authorities describe caregivers' torture of disabled woman who died - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
"Torture" is how New Mexico's top prosecutor describes the treatment a 38-year-old developmentally disabled woman endured before her death at the hands of her caregivers, who he said were paid thousands of dollars a month through a special program meant to offer an alternative to institutional care.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez detailed the woman's injuries during a news conference Thursday, saying she died weeks after being found in the back of a van as the caregivers tried to take her to Mexico so her wounds could be treated.
"The abuse and neglect that she endured was horrific and the injuries she sustained are among the worst I have seen in my career as a prosecutor," Torrez said. "This was torture. There's really no other word for it."
Three people were arrested and charged Wednesday with abuse and neglect following an investigation that began with the stop at the U.S.-Mexico border in late February.
The case spurred a statewide review of New Mexico's entire developmentally disabled waiver system. Social workers spent weeks conducting individual wellness checks on thousands of developmentally disabled people who receive care through the federally-funded waiver program.
More allegations of possible abuse and neglect were turned up, and the state Health Department canceled contracts with four providers in the Albuquerque area.
An affidavit filed by the Attorney General's Office details the abuse that resulted in the charges filed Wednesday against Angelita Rene Chacon, 52, and Patricia Hurtado, 42, both of Rio Rancho. They face counts of abuse or neglect of a resident resulting in death, false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.
Luz Scott, 53, of Clovis, an acquaintance of the women, has been charged with false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.
Messages seeking comment from Daniel Lindsey, an attorney listed for Scott, were not immediately returned. Court records didn't indicate whether Chacon and Hurtado had lawyers yet.
The women were scheduled to make their first court appearances Friday.
According to the attorney general's office, Chacon and Hurtado contracted with At Home Advocacy and three other contractors to provide supplemental care for the victim. They were receiving about $5,000 a month under the waiver program to care for her.
Prosecutors say a preliminary review of available business records indicate that At Home Advocacy received nearly $250,000 to coordinate care and support for the victim in the three years before her death.
Records show the company last visited the home on Jan. 25, one month before the victim was found at the port of entry in El Paso.
According to court records, a supervisor with At Home Advocacy told FBI agents the company conducted monthly wellness visits at Chacon's home but that "body checks" were not conducted during those visits and that no injuries were seen.
Authorities said the woman who died was severely dehydrated and drugged when she was found in the van. She also had numerous open wounds, bedsores with exposed bone and bruises and lacerations on various parts of her body.
They also described marks consistent with being restrained for a prolonged period of time.
Unable to speak when discovered by federal agents at the border crossing, she was transported to University Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, where she died on April 7. The Associated Press generally does not name people who have been abused.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and top health officials had warned that any caregivers who mistreat and abuse developmentally disabled or otherwise vulnerable people would be held accountable.
Republican legislative leaders also requested that the federal government investigate, saying an independent inquiry would ensure transparency and might prevent such cases in the future.
Both Torrez and Raul Bujanda, FBI Albuquerque agent in charge, called the case "a wake-up call" about the treatment of developmentally disabled people in New Mexico.
The woman who died "could easily have been our loved one," Bujanda said. "You expect, you demand that your loved one is taken care of in such a way that ... the only thing you'll ever worry about is making to time to go and see them."
Torrez urged the governor and lawmakers to overhaul protocols at the state Department of Health. His suggestions included increased staff and training, mandatory inspections every 90 days and new civil and criminal penalties for companies and providers.
He tallied 12 "auditors" for more than 6,000 sites statewide and faulted administrators and the Legislature for relying on care providers to self-report problems.
"That's one of the fundamental problems that has arisen in this case," Torrez said, suggesting that lucrative contracts with the state provide no incentive for providers to police themselves.
State Health Secretary Patrick Allen said Thursday that an independent investigation is ongoing to identify any systemic flaws that would allow for abuse or neglect to go unchecked. He also said the agency will continue to refer any other cases of suspected abuse and neglect to law enforcement.
"Persons with disabilities often rely on others for their day-to-day living. They literally entrust their caregivers with their lives," Allen said, adding that when their care is covered by a state program "everyone is accountable, and we must ensure their health and safety needs are met."
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This story has been corrected to show the arrests were announced and a news conference was scheduled Thursday, not Wednesday.
US greenlights major transmission line for renewable energy in Western states - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The U.S. government is greenlighting a proposed multibillion-dollar transmission line that would send primarily wind-generated electricity from the rural plains of New Mexico to big cities in the West.
The Interior Department announced its record of decision for the SunZia project Thursday. It comes about a year after an environmental review was completed as part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to clear the way for major transmission projects as it looks to meet climate goals and shore up the nation's power grid.
The SunZia transmission project in New Mexico has been more than a decade in the making. The U.S. Defense Department and others initially raised concerns about the path of the high-voltage lines, prompting the developer to submit a new application in 2021 to modify the route.
New Mexico's renewable energy authority is among those invested in the SunZia project, which would include roughly 520 miles (836 kilometers) of transmission lines and a network of substations for getting wind and solar power to Arizona and California.
The anchor tenant is California-based Pattern Energy, which has been busy building massive wind farms in central New Mexico.
Federal land managers said they completed the latest review in less than two years.
"The Department of the Interior is committed to expanding clean energy development to address climate change, enhance America's energy security and provide for good-paying union jobs," Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, said in a statement.
The Bureau of Land Management has approved nearly three dozen renewable energy and grid improvement projects since 2021. Included are solar and geothermal projects that officials said would be capable of producing enough electricity to power more than 2.6 million homes.
More than 150 applications for solar and wind development are still in the agency's queue, official said.
Land managers also are reviewing two other major transmission projects that would funnel electricity generated from renewable sources in remote spots to large western markets. One would run through seven counties from Las Vegas to Reno, Nevada, and the other would stretch between central Utah and east-central Nevada.
Pattern Energy announced Monday that it signed long-term purchase agreements with Shell Energy North America and the University of California for a portion of the electricity that will be flowing through SunZia.
Construction is expected to start later this year. It will be about three years until the line begins delivering power, the company said.
Pattern CEO Hunter Armistead has said SunZia will be able to tap "some of the best wind in the world." He explained that the wind farms in New Mexico have a wind generation profile with an evening peak that will complement daytime solar generation elsewhere.
Supreme Court avoids ruling on law shielding internet companies from being sued for what users post - By Mark Sherman Associated Press
The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Google, Twitter and Facebook in lawsuits seeking to hold them liable for terrorist attacks. But the justices sidestepped the big issue hovering over the cases, the federal law that shields social media companies from being sued over content posted by others.
The justices unanimously rejected a lawsuit alleging that the companies allowed their platforms to be used to aid and abet an attack at a Turkish nightclub that killed 39 people in 2017.
In the case of an American college student who was killed in an Islamic State terrorist attack in Paris in 2015, a unanimous court returned the case to a lower court, but said there appeared to be little, if anything, left of it.
The high court initially took up the Google case to decide whether the companies' legal shield for the social media posts of others, contained in a 1996 law known as Section 230, is too broad.
Instead, though, the court said it was not necessary to reach that issue because there is little tying Google to responsibility for the Paris attack.
"We therefore decline to address the application of Section 230 to a complaint that appears to state little, if any, plausible claim for relief," the court wrote in an unsigned opinion.
The outcome is, at least for now, a victory for the tech industry, which predicted havoc on the internet if Google lost. But the high court remains free to take up the issue in a later case.
"The Court will eventually have to answer some important questions that it avoided in today's opinions. Questions about the scope of platforms' immunity under Section 230 are consequential and will certainly come up soon in other cases," Anna Diakun, staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in an emailed statement.
Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said an email that the company will "continue our work to safeguard free expression online, combat harmful content, and support businesses and creators who benefit from the internet."
A lawyer for the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in Paris, expressed disappointment at the outcome, but pledged to fight on. "We lawyers see this decision as just another hurdle we need to navigate. It took decades to topple Big Tobacco, we'll eventually rein in reckless and greed driven Big Tech as well," Nitsana Darshan-Leitner wrote in an email.
The families of victims in both attacks asserted that the internet giants did not do enough to prevent their platforms from being used by extremist groups to radicalize and recruit people.
They sued under a federal law that allows Americans injured by a terrorist attack abroad to seek money damages in federal court.
The family of a victim in the bombing of the Reina nightclub in Istanbul claimed that the companies assisted in the growth of the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
But writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said the family's "claims fall far short of plausibly alleging that defendants aided and abetted the Reina attack."
In the Paris attack, Gonzalez' family raised similar claims against Google over her killing at a Paris bistro, in an assault also claimed by the Islamic State. That was one of several attacks on a June night in the French capital that left 130 people dead.
The family wants to sue Google for YouTube videos they said helped attract IS recruits and radicalize them. Google owns YouTube.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that most of the claims were barred by the internet immunity law.
The Supreme Court's decision in October to review that ruling set off alarm at Google and other technology companies. "If we undo Section 230, that would break a lot of the internet tools," Kent Walker, Google's top lawyer, said.
Yelp, Reddit, Microsoft, Craigslist, Twitter and Facebook were among the companies warning that searches for jobs, restaurants and merchandise could be restricted if those social media platforms had to worry about being sued over the recommendations they provide and their users want.