U.S. Senate confirms new federal judge for New Mexico - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed a new federal judge for New Mexico.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Sarah Davenport will serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico after the Senate voted 52-45 to approve her nomination. President Biden had put her name forward in August.
Davenport is set to replace the state’s Chief United States District Judge William P. Johnson, who announced earlier this year his plan to retire next month. Former President George W. Bush appointed Johnson to the court in 2001.
While Johnson is based in Albuquerque, Davenport will be based in her home town of Las Cruces, according to a joint statement from Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján.
The Senators said they were “proud to have secured” Davenport’s confirmation, adding that she has, “Built an impressive legal career as a federal prosecutor in New Mexico.”
Davenport has served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the district for the last 15 years.
Her confirmation comes amid a rush among Senate Democrats to confirm judicial vacancies before President-elect Trump takes office. The senate confirmed Davenport largely along party lines. Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins broke with their party to approve the judge.
New Mexico Supreme Court: Lawmakers should settle dispute with executive branch over leave policy - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday set the stage for a fight between all three branches of state government early next year, as it chose not to intervene in a dispute over how much court workers can be paid for extra, unused leave.
The decision was made not by the court’s sitting justices but by four retired justices and a retired appeals court judge designated to rule on their behalf. All five regular members of the bench recused themselves from the case over the past two months, highlighting the conflicts of interest in a case in which the court must settle a disagreement between itself and the executive branch.
The substitute jurists were called in after the state’s executive branch — with support from the state Department of Justice — refused to keep cutting checks to court workers who had been getting paid out for unused time off they earned under a policy approved by the Supreme Court last year.
The judiciary sued the executive after the two sides disagreed about whether the policy is legal.
Mark Baker, an attorney for the judiciary, argued in court that the Department of Finance and Administration’s move was the executive branch sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong.
“DFA should have come to court to challenge the order, and not made a unilateral decision,” Baker said. “Having the executive blocking court orders is bad practice.”
But Edward Ricco, on behalf of the executive branch, argued the payments violate limits on how much sick leave workers can get paid out at the end of each year or at retirement.
“There’s no separation of powers issue here,” he said. “As we see it, the Department secretary is doing what the executive branch is supposed to do: seeing to it that the laws are carried out.”
The core issue, Ricco argued, was whether the limits on leave payouts imposed by the Legislature on all state agencies also apply to the judicial branch, “or whether the judiciary is so independent that it may adopt its own employee benefits plan that has no constraint from the Legislature” – other than the general pot of money it gets to spend each year.
Instead of deciding the case on the merits, the justices said they would halt the proceedings until there is a legislative fix. They came to a unanimous decision after hearing out the two sides and deliberating behind closed doors for about an hour.
“Why shouldn’t we wait for the Legislature to speak?” acting Chief Justice Richard Bosson asked. “They had an opportunity to speak last spring — they didn’t. They have a big opportunity now coming up.”
If and when lawmakers act, it would be up to the state agency that runs the court system, called the Administrative Office of the Courts, to decide whether to return to the state’s highest court, Bosson said.
Lawmakers could, for example, grant the judicial branch its annual budget while specifying none can be spent on paid time off, Bosson said.
Ricco said the Legislature could avert any constitutional crisis here in many ways, including delegating power to the judiciary to address it as it sees fit, or to amend the state law that puts limits on the payouts.
“The way separation of powers problems should be worked out is through the political process, that’s the way they’re traditionally dealt with,” Ricco said. “And that’s the way government trundles along and manages to function with shared powers among the branches: cooperation, balance, common sense and reason.”
In a footnote included in one of his written briefings, Ricco wrote that “legislative officials have since inquired about recouping these monies.” He told the justices on Wednesday that Sens. George Muñoz and Joseph Cervantes, both Democrats, sent letters asking for information about the payouts.
Cervantes was one of at least 10 lawmakers who met behind closed doors with the parties and Chief Justice David Thomson about the case on Nov. 12.
The case stems from an order issued by the Supreme Court itself on March 10, 2023, which adopted a new paid time policy for employees of the state’s judicial branch.
Under the old rules, paid time off was split into sick leave and vacation, which the judiciary argues forces workers to choose between losing leave annually or taking more time away from work. The new rules combined both leave types into a single PTO program.
On April 24, 2023, Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Wayne Probst told the Administrative Office of the Courts that the paid time off system is unlawful and would be difficult to implement with the state’s existing computer system.
Still, after the order went into effect on May 13, 2023, Probst’s agency complied with it and processed the payments for about 14 months, according to the petition. The Department of Finance and Administration was “administering the plan as best it could,” Ricco said, though there were difficulties.
But in late June 2024, the department stopped processing the payments after asking the state Department of Justice to weigh in.
That month, Chief Deputy Attorney General James Grayson had published a legal opinion which concluded the payouts were unlawful because they conflict with limits in state law on how much extra sick leave workers can be converted into pay at the end of each year or at retirement.
New Mexico Bishops pen letter calling on Trump to rethink mass deportations - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
All three of New Mexico’s bishops have joined together to ask President-elect Donald Trump to reconsider his plans to carry out one of the largest deportation schemes in U.S. history.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Bishop Peter Baldacchino [BALD-uh-KEE-no] of the Diocese of Las Cruces and Bishop James Wall of the Diocese of Gallup penned a letter this week calling for Trump to instead focus on bipartisan immigration reform.
In the open letter, the bishops said a “mass deportation policy” would create, “Chaos, family separation, and the traumatization of children.”
On the campaign trail, Trump consistently highlighted his border and immigration policy ambitions – including at his last-minute rally stop in Albuquerque.
Although he called New Mexico policies “Trump-proof,” state House Speaker Javier Martínez plans to introduce a slew of legislative proposals in the upcoming legislative session to protect immigrants.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has told KUNM she would go “right to court” to stop Trump’s deportations in their tracks.
Controversial Santa Fe solar project draws heat at public hearing - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
Community members from Eldorado gathered this week at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center to voice their opposition to a proposed solar power and battery storage development that would provide a significant renewable energy boost to the city and state.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the Virginia-based AES Corporation’s proposed Rancho Viejo Solar project has taken the limelight recently as residents worry the lithium battery storage facility and array could be a potential fire risk and decrease property values.
Though, according to senior management officials for the project, their plan would be a “moonshot” for New Mexico – providing a much-needed push towards its renewable energy goals.
For now, a hearing officer will make a written recommendation to the county’s planning commission on whether to move forward. The panel could then make a decision as early as February.
If approved, the project aims to generate 96 megawatts of power and 45 megawatts of battery storage. In all, it would span around 680 acres – including a solar facility, substation, battery storage system and a generation line.
Man convicted of killing and dismembering 3 people in Texas is sentenced to death - Associated Press
A Texas jury on Wednesday sentenced a man to death for killing and dismembering three people whose bodies were found in a burning dumpster in Fort Worth in 2021.
The Tarrant County jury found Jason Thornburg, 44, guilty of capital murder last month in the deaths of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33. According to his arrest warrant, Thornburg confessed to police about the killings.
"He is evil," prosecutor Amy Allin told jurors.
According to Thornburg's arrest warrant, he also told police he had killed his roommate and girlfriend.
The roommate, Mark Jewell, 61, was found dead in a house fire earlier that year. Thornburg's girlfriend, Tanya Begay, a Navajo woman from Gallup, New Mexico, went missing after taking a trip to Arizona with Thornburg in 2017.
He told officers he had in-depth knowledge of the Bible and believed he was being called to "commit sacrifices," according to the arrest warrant.
Thornburg's attorneys had argued that he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
New Mexico AG charges four people with abuse at care facilities — Daniel Montaño, KUNM News
The New Mexico Department of Justice has filed charges of elder and resident abuse against four different people working at assisted living living facilities and with the developmentally disabled.
Director of the Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Division Joseph Martinez said the incidents led to multiple charges for various types of abuse and that each charge carries a sentence of up to six months.
“The investigations uncovered that some of New Mexicans, most vulnerable population, was being abused and abused from a variety of different ways,” he said. “Some were being verbally abused, some were being physically abused, and another one was simply being hit.”
The facilities named in the criminal complaints are Pacifica Senior Living Facility and Community Options Inc in Santa Fe, and Morningstar of Rio Rancho Assisted Living Facility.
Videos of two of the incidents can be viewed online, in which two of the defendants, Salomon Sanchez and Lee Carrizales, can be heard and seen verbally and physically abusing residents, calling them names, refusing access to the bathroom, and physically shoving one.
“All of these allegations are extremely serious and worrisome because none of them could have been reported by the victims themselves,” he said. “All of the victims had diminished capacity.”
Martinez said all of the cases were reported, either as referrals from other agencies or directly by the public, in two of the cases, direct co-workers of the defendants.
Although the Governor announced a crackdown on long-term care facilities this summer, Martinez said these investigations were separate from that effort.
New Mexico governor: Expect ‘laundry list’ of crime proposals in one bill in legislative session - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s series of tough-on-crime bills failed in a special legislative session earlier this year, so in 2025 she and the Legislature are trying a different approach: Packing all the reforms into one big bill.
At a lecture hall at the Gallup campus of the University of New Mexico on Tuesday, the governor gave a glimpse of what the public can expect when it comes to her renewed push to tackle crime and justice across the state: A robust debate over many different criminal justice reforms piled into a single bill, plus more money to address drug addiction and mental illness.
“Both chambers have committed to an omnibus. What does that mean? We’ve got a laundry list of bills in one bill at the front end of the session,” she said. “There will also be a hefty investment in behavioral health, and we need it.”
Throughout the year, the governor has held hours-long town hall meetings in communities big and small, rallying the public to ask their legislators to pass a slate of public safety bills. At the nearly five-hour meeting in Gallup, she heard from members of the public who described crime in their communities, along with proposed solutions from educators, social workers, teens and advocates.
The governor said she intends to push for the same or similar proposals in January that crashed at a brief special session this summer.
The governor’s agenda would have made it easier for police and judges to involuntarily commit people with psychiatric diagnoses or for courts to hold them in jail. It would also ban loitering on certain medians across the state and raise penalties for having a gun if someone has a prior felony conviction.
The session ended the same day it opened, however. Because no Democrat agreed to carry the bills, the governor relied on Republicans to sponsor the legislation, which Democratic leaders prevented from coming up from a vote.
Democratic legislative leaders said the governor was trying to rush through legislation regarding the complicated interplay of mental illness, drug use and crime. They said they needed more time to create and deliberate laws that represent real solutions, while the governor said the current crisis demanded immediate action.
The governor, also a Democrat, called the Legislature’s inaction “one of the most disappointing days of my career” and marked a rift with members of her own party.
Sen. George Muñoz, a Gallup Democrat and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, sat in the audience Tuesday and had a brief exchange with the governor. He said the Legislature has repeatedly toughened criminal penalties, but the judiciary is a missing piece of the crime debate happening now between the executive and legislative branches.
“We can toughen any law you want, but if the cops don’t enforce it, and the judges don’t enforce it, and the (district attorneys) don’t prosecute it, then we’re in the same boat we are today,” he said.
Criminal competency will be the hardest reform for the Legislature, Muñoz said.
But the the governor said too many defendants are released back onto the streets after being deemed incompetent for trial, and she pointed to reforms in other states to show that New Mexico can also find a solution.
“It can’t be that hard if 48 states have gotten there. Why is it hard here? I’m just unclear. So I’m going to need you to help me with that about why it’s such a heavy lift,” she told Muñoz.
The 60-day legislative session begins January 21.
Legacy Church, Steelbridge Ministries named in lawsuit alleging sexual abuse - By Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
A lawsuit filed this week with the Second Judicial District Court alleges that former Steelbridge Ministries executive director Travis Clark coerced a female client into “regular sexual contact” between December 2020 and April 2024.
Steelbridge operates a residential treatment facility near Downtown Albuquerque for those with substance use disorders who have also often experienced homelessness. Legacy Church Inc., the parent entity of Steelbridge, and its lead pastor Steve Smothermon, are also named in the lawsuit.
The 11-page lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiff, “Jane Doe 1,” by Albuquerque law firm Huffman Wallace & Monagle.
The lawsuit alleges that Jane Doe 1 was sexually abused while in a court-ordered treatment program at Steelbridge and that Clark coerced her into regular sexual contact under the guise of “pastoral counseling” and “substance abuse counseling” — offering her an expedited release from custody if she succumbed to his sexual demands.
Attorney Shayne C. Huffman said in a Tuesday news release that Clark had “complete control” over the plaintiff’s freedom and “the power to send her back to jail if she did not do whatever he told her to do.”
The lawsuit alleges that Clark was allowed to quietly resign his position at Steelbridge when the allegations were brought to the attention of the organization’s board of directors in the summer of 2021.
However, following his resignation, the lawsuit alleges that Clark was hired into a similar
position at Crossroads for Women where similar sexual abuses occurred. Clark is still thought to be working at Crossroads, an Albuquerque nonprofit that provides housing and therapeutic services to women exiting incarceration who are also at risk of experiencing homelessness.
“Our understanding is that Mr. Clark continued his pattern of sexually abusive
behavior after transitioning from Steelbridge to Crossroads,” Attorney Levi Monagle said in the news release. “Whether this is the result of Steelbridge’s failure to warn, or Crossroads’ failure to inquire, the result is inexcusable and highly alarming.”
Huffman said his client also alleges that Clark has been sending her messages since his resignation from Steelbridge suggesting “she stay quiet.”
Attempts by City Desk ABQ to reach representatives at Steelbridge, Legacy and Crossroads weren’t immediately successful. In a statement to KOAT-TV on Tuesday, attorneys for Legacy and Steelbridge said: “Both the Lawsuit and the Press Release are riddled with spurious allegations that constitute false statements of fact made to third parties that wrongfully damage the reputation of the Ministries.”
The lawsuit further notes that Clark had been previously charged, and later acquitted, of sexually assaulting a minor while coaching high school basketball at Liberty High School in Colorado Springs in 2012.
The plaintiff’s attorneys said the 2012 charge “was discoverable with a simple Google search, and should have disqualified Mr. Clark from holding a position of authority over the extremely vulnerable women at Steelbridge.”
An entry on Clark’s LinkedIn profile indicates that he assumed the executive director position at Steelbridge in 2019, five years after being acquitted of the sexual assault charges in Colorado. Clark was also previously the chief operations officer at HopeWorks, another Albuquerque nonprofit homeless services provider.
LEGACY RELATIONSHIP
The lawsuit points to connections between Steelbridge and Legacy — alleging that Legacy, through Smothermon, “exerted substantial control over all major aspects of Steelbridge’s operation since at least 2019.”
“Mr. Smothermon is the leader of Legacy Church, as well as the chair of Steelbridge’s board of directors, and we would be stunned if he was not aware of the allegations of Mr. Clark’s sexual misconduct back in 2021,” Huffman said in the news release.
Huffman said Steelbridge’s relationship to Legacy is stated in its annual report. Job postings for open Steelbridge positions are also published on Legacy’s website.
“Legacy runs everything,” Huffman told City Desk ABQ on Wednesday. “And apparently all the Stillbridge folks are on the Legacy payroll.”
Huffman said his client was referred to the Steelbridge program as a condition of her probation by her aunt, who is a member at Legacy.
“[Jane Doe 1] told us that there are other people that are [at Steelbridge] as a condition of their probation,” Huffman said.
Huffman likened the power dynamic between Clark and his client to other cases that involve corrections personnel who coerce inmates into having sex.
Huffman Wallace & Monagle also represent clients in Catholic Church sexual abuse allegations.
“We’ve sued, and we’re currently suing, the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of El Paso — we have 200 claimants in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe bankruptcy [case],” Huffman said.
NEXT STEPS
Huffman said the defendants in the Clark lawsuit now have 30 days to provide initial responses to the allegations through a court filing.
“To admit or deny each allegation we’ve made,” he said. “Then we would start the discovery process, gather evidence and exchange documents, take testimony — that sort of thing.”
Huffman said the process can take between one to three years.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they just throw everything they can at us and countersue for defamation,” Huffman said. “We’ll see what comes down the pipeline.”
Huffman said he talks to Jane Doe 1 daily.
“She’s in recovery and seems to be doing really well,” he said. “I’ve talked with her a lot now at this point and I find her to be very credible.”
Read the full lawsuit here.
Bernalillo County offers property tax savings - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
Bernalillo County officials are looking to help property owners who want to keep their homes and businesses in tip-top shape.
The county assessor’s program, Cost to Cure, is designed to offset expenses related to bringing a property up to its best condition. Property owners are eligible for a one-time reduction to the listed fair market value of their property.According to the program’s website, that could mean paying hundreds of dollars less in property taxes.
“Cost to Cure is a powerful incentive for investment and to revitalize property and our community,” County Assessor Damian Lara said. “There’s no minimum or maximum that can be claimed and it covers any defect and deficiency.”
Eligible costs include materials such as lumber, nails and refinishing supplies, as well as professional services such as plumbing and electrical work.
“We want to revitalize Bernalillo County and have our community looking its best,” Lara said. “Cost to Cure is a great way to help pay for the work.”
Property owners will need to provide receipts for any restoration or improvement projects they have completed. Valuation reductions will be reflected on the county-issued Notice of Value for each property, which will be mailed to property owners in April.
The same improvements cannot be claimed more than once in a year or in successive years.
Assessor’s Office Spokesperson Tom Thorpe said while the program is new, property owners have for years presented cost-to-cure reports to staff, mostly while protesting their assessed valuation.
A full description of the program, examples of potential savings and a printable application are available here.
More information is also available from A.C.E., the Assessor’s online chatbot at bernco.gov/assessor. Those wishing to speak with a customer service representative may call 505-222-3700.
Return of the snowman - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
The holiday season has come to Albuquerque, made evident to westbound I-40 drivers by the appearance of the annual Tumbleweed Snowman.
The creature has shown up on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving for decades, courtesy of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority.
As the name implies, the snowman is constructed from three stacked tumbleweeds. His look is, for the most part, completed with recycled materials: scrap-metal eyes, an ax handle for a nose and a 55-gallon drum for a hat. His scarf was knitted by the mother-in-law of a maintenance crew member.
The tradition began in 1995 and the snowman has gotten bigger over the years. He’s now at least 12 feet tall. The snowman is near the exit for University Boulevard and Second and Fourth streets.