New Mexico Opens Door To New Era Of Civil Rights Lawsuits - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
Efforts among a handful of states to hold police accountable for brutality and misconduct are expanding Thursday as New Mexico opens the door to civil rights lawsuits against government agencies in state court.
The New Mexico Civil Rights Act removes immunity provisions that shield government agencies from financial liability related to misconduct, though individual officials won't pay for damages.
As the law takes effect, local police agencies are bracing for an onslaught of lawsuits that can carry liability awards of up to $2 million per event. At least one county sheriff's department has been declined private insurance coverage — highlighting concerns about potential payouts.
The legislation, drafted amid nationwide protests over police brutality and institutional racism, reaches beyond law enforcement practices and applies to potential misconduct at nearly every state and local government agency, including school districts.
Attorneys also hope to harness the law to address cruel conditions in prisons or abuses in foster homes for children. They note that New Mexico's Bill of Rights goes beyond federal guarantees to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
"New Mexico has had a Bill of Rights in its Constitution. We've never had a effective way to enforce those rights, or protect those rights," said Maureen Sanders, a civil rights attorney who provides voluntary legal advice to the American Civil Liberties Union. "This will ... give you an appropriate way to bring claims when foster kids are injured by the Children, Youth and Families Department, or an individual's 1st Amendment rights are violated by a county commissioner."
The legislation, signed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in April, was backed by an unusual coalition of progressive civil rights advocates and politically conservative proponents of greater accountability in government. The conservative-backed nonprofit group Americans for Prosperity, supported by billionaire Charles Koch, was one prominent supporter.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to take up several challenges to the legal doctrine known as qualified immunity, which shields officials from lawsuits for money as a result of things they do in the course of their job.
Several states are no longer waiting to hold police or law enforcement agencies financially responsible for wrongdoing.
Colorado last year became the first state to place limits on the use of qualified immunity as a defense in law enforcement cases, and Connecticut has established an avenue for people to seek financial damages in wrongdoing by police.
In New Mexico, Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe oversees a force of 125 sworn officers and worries that the new civil rights law will highlight mistakes and not solutions.
He said his department already has two lieutenants assigned full-time to the review the use of force by officers, and that consultations with national experts are coming soon.
"We anticipate we're going to be sued more as policing agencies," Hebbe said. "The goal of it was to hold departments accountable, I get that. It's tough to plan, then. What does this all look like ( in the future)? I can't tell you that I know that yet."
Republican state legislators unanimously opposed the immunity reforms in a display of solidarity with police and amid concerns that civil rights lawsuits might undermine local government finances — including law enforcement budgets — and be counterproductive.
Democratic House Speaker Brian Egolf championed the abolition of immunity — and came under criticism as an attorney whose legal practice profits in part from civil rights litigation. He said the new state law goes beyond policing or political leanings and can be used to call out government infringement on the right to bear arms or freedom of religious worship.
Human rights advocates foresee advances for vulnerable populations — including prison inmates who don't easily garner sympathy.
Steven Robert Allen, an advocate for improving prison conditions as director of the New Mexico Prison & Jail Project, said that the state's constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment has been "nice on paper, but meaningless" until now.
Allen expects complaints against lockups that faced insurmountable odds in federal court can now move forward.
The financial implications for taxpayers is unclear, as private insurance providers and mutual insurance pools for local governments recalibrate costs.
New Mexico's risk-management division that provides a legal defense to state personnel and agencies estimates a 35% increase in the number of annual civil rights lawsuits. It says settlements and jury awards are likely to nearly double to $6.6 million annually.
At the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, an agency of 330 people headquartered in Albuquerque, lapel cameras were adopted less than a year ago — a mandatory provision of reforms in 2020 by state lawmakers.
Sheriff's Office Captain Nicholas Huffmyer said the state's new Civil Rights Act won't change his agency's field protocols for the use of force that hinge on the imminent threat of harm, the presence of a weapon and resistance to arrest.
"You cannot use financial liability as a fulcrum to adjust how you deal with use of force," said Huffmyer, who oversees internal affairs. "We have other constitutional requirements."
Branson Mum On When He'll Launch To Space On Virgin Galactic - By Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer
Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson won't say when he'll ride his rocket ship to space or whether he's looking to become the first billionaire to launch aboard his own rocket.
In an interview after Wednesday's satellite launch by his separate company Virgin Orbit, Branson told The Associated Press he has to be "so circumspect" in what he says about Virgin Galactic, a publicly traded company.
"All I can say is when the engineers tell me that I can go to space, I'm ready, fit and healthy to go," Branson said. "So we'll see."
Amazon's Jeff Bezos is targeting July 20 for his rocket company's first launch with people. The Blue Origin flight from West Texas will include Bezos, his brother, a charity auction winner who's shelling out $28 million and a fourth unidentified person.
Unlike Elon Musk's SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are looking to send space tourists on brief up-and-down hops — not into orbit around the world.
Branson visited Virgin Galactic's New Mexico base before flying to California's Mojave Desert for Wednesday's plane-launched, multi-satellite mission.
Virgin Galactic plans three more test flights to the edge of space this summer and early fall, before launching customers. The company originally put Branson on the second upcoming flight, but has refused to say whether it's moving him up to the next one.
Branson would not comment Wednesday on which flight he'll be on — he wouldn't even say when the next flight might be. He did acknowledge it's "very important" for potential customers to see him strap in for a ride, before opening the doors to the paying public.
The thrill-seeking adventurer, who turns 71 in a few weeks, said he's "not apprehensive at all" about launching into space.
"It's a dream of a lifetime," he told the AP.
Last week, Virgin Galactic got the Federal Aviation Administration's OK to start launching customers. More than 600 people already have reserved a ride to space. Tickets initially cost $250,000, but the price is expected to go up once the company starts accepting reservations again.
Virgin Galactic made its third flight to space in May, with two pilots in the cockpit of the winged spaceship. Like Virgin Orbit, Virgin Galactic uses an aircraft to get off the ground and waits until it reaches high altitude before releasing and firing the rocket.
Navajo Nation Reports 6 New COVID-19 Cases, 2 More Deaths – Associated Press
The Navajo Nation on Wednesday reported six new cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths.
Tribal health officials had previously reported three cases with no deaths for three consecutive days.
The latest numbers pushed the totals on the sprawling reservation that stretches into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah to 31,004 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began more than a year ago and 1,354 known deaths.
Tribal officials said last week that the first case of the Delta variant has been identified on the reservation.
The variant has become prevalent in the U.S. over the past few weeks and has been detected in many states, including the Four Corners states.
"Our best defense against COVID-19 and the Delta variant is to get vaccinated and wear a mask in public," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement Wednesday. "We are in this together and we need more of our people to get fully vaccinated to reach our goal of community immunity and to save more lives."
Latest Reopenings Mark Return To Business In Mainland US - By Sara Cline And Rachel La Corte Associated Press/Report For America
Oregon and Washington on Wednesday lifted most of their COVID-19 restrictions to become two of the last states to broadly ease virus orders put in place in the very first days of the pandemic.
New Mexico is set to reopen Thursday, marking a return to business throughout the mainland U.S. following 16 months of disruption and more than 600,000 lives lost. The last holdout — Hawaii — has loosened some rules but is slated to maintain others until 70% of its population is fully vaccinated.
The reopenings come as concern grows about a new coronavirus variant that threatens to set the country back in the months ahead. In California, health officials in Los Angeles County this week strongly recommended that people wear masks indoors in public places — regardless of their vaccination status — to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.
In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown called the day a "truly a historic moment for our state" but said there is still work to be done.
"We will be relentless in our efforts to finish the job, closing our equity gaps and reaching every Oregonian with information and vaccine," she said at her first in-person news conference in months.
Businesses also applauded the changes but noted challenges remain.
"We lost almost our entire workforce over the course of the year," said Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association. "We're still short 80,000 workers."
The United States' first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported north of Seattle in Snohomish County in January 2020. Washington state also saw the nation's first deadly outbreak, at a nursing home east of Seattle.
Oregon had its first reported COVID-19 case a month later. Hector Calderon, a janitor in a Portland metro-area school district spent 71 days in the hospital, 60 of them on a ventilator, and was in a coma for 50 days.
"God gave me another opportunity to live, and the doctor's did," Calderon said at the governor's reopening event in Portland. He added he is ready to finally go on a vacation again as restrictions are lifted.
For more than a year, Oregon has had some of the nation's strictest coronavirus-related safety measures — mask requirements inside and outside, limited gatherings and weekslong forced closures of indoor dining, gyms and theaters. Even major school districts didn't reopen to in-person learning until April.
"We took unprecedented action to accomplish an unprecedented mission — to do everything we could to protect Oregonians and save lives," Brown said.
The state also has had some of the nation's lowest infection and mortality rates. Health officials estimate the restrictions and stay-at-home orders saved 4,000 lives.
On Wednesday, Brown ended rules including mask mandates — in most settings — capacity limits, physical distancing and the assignment of county risk levels that dictated restrictions.
The exceptions are for federal rules; masks will still be required at airports, on public transportation and in healthcare settings. In addition, businesses can still require customers to wear masks or provide proof of vaccination to forgo wearing them.
The reopening was already noticeable in Portland, where overnight, city workers removed plywood boards that have covered the windows of downtown businesses since the start of the pandemic. Signs plastered on restaurant doors telling people to wear a mask had disappeared.
In Washington state, restaurants, bars, gyms and stores were also allowed to resume full indoor capacity, up from the most recent limit of 50%, and physical distancing requirements were lifted.
One restriction that will remain in place is a 75% attendance cap on indoor events of more than 10,000 people, unless the event verifies all attendees are vaccinated. Those restrictions will be reevaluated July 31.
Masking rules also will remain in some places, including health care settings, public transit and schools. They will continue to be required for unvaccinated employees who return to work indoors. And businesses can continue to choose to require masks for their customers, regardless of vaccination status.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is on the road this week, visiting businesses and talking with residents, but no special events were planned for the state's long-awaited reopening on Thursday, her office said.
Republican lawmakers, business owners and parents have criticized the Democratic governor for waiting to ease the remaining public health restrictions. They have complained that countless businesses have been forced to close for good and that children lost a year of learning by being forced into virtual classrooms. The dissent fueled a protest in early June in Albuquerque that derailed a rally at which Lujan Grisham announced her bid for reelection.
Republican state Sen. Cliff Pirtle of Roswell said Wednesday the governor's decision to pin the reopening to 60% of residents being fully vaccinated was arbitrary and did irreparable harm to New Mexico's education system and economy.
"I think the governor has been throwing darts at the wall the entire time," Pirtle said, adding that Lujan Grisham's administration never took into account the tens of thousands of residents who gained immunity after recovering from a COVID-19 infection.
Lujan Grisham's office has said her decisions have been based on what she believes to be in the best interest of New Mexicans and on data and input from public health experts.
Meanwhile, officials in the state's most populated areas said they're eager to reopen.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, a Democrat, said Wednesday that while some mask restrictions will remain in place for public transportation systems and other spots, the state's largest city has the "gas pedal down."
In Hawaii, testing and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated domestic travelers will be lifted July 8. Restaurants will also be able to seat up to 75% of their capacity then, although distancing rules between tables will remain.
Gov. David Ige has said he is hopeful public health outcomes will allow the state to lift more restrictions in August. As of Wednesday, about 58% of Hawaii's population was fully vaccinated.
"We can get there if people become informed about their safe and effective vaccination options and choose to get their injections," Ige said in a release this month.
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Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico. La Corte reported from Olympia, Washington. Cline is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Dies At 88 - By Robert Burns, AP National Security Writer
The family of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he has died. He was 88.
Rumsfeld’s family says he died late Tuesday “surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico.” The two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate had a reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military, but it was unraveled by the long and costly Iraq war.
Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America.
1 Dead In New Mexico After Vehicle Driven Into Flooded Road – Associated Press
One person was found dead in a vehicle driven into floodwaters that covered a closed road in Carlsbad after heavy rain drenched southeastern New Mexico, authorities said.
The State Police was investigating last night’s incident, news outlets reported.
The identity of the person found dead in the vehicle that overturned was not immediately released.
A shelter was opened Tuesday at a Carlsbad elementary school for residents of a neighborhood evacuated because of rising water but most people chose to stay with family and friends.
The National Weather Service extended a flood warning issued for the Carlsbad area through Wednesday night and said minor flooding was expected.
The Pecos River was expected to crest at 1.5 feet (0.5 meter) above flood stage Wednesday afternoon then fall below flood stage later Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said.
Flooding of numerous city streets and roads in outlying roads was expected, the weather service said.
Horse Owners Say New Mexico Regulators Violated Civil Rights - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
An organization that represents thousands of racehorse owners and trainers is accusing New Mexico regulators of violating their civil rights.
The New Mexico Horsemen's Association announced Tuesday that it is suing the state Racing Commission in federal court, saying it had no other recourse because the commission barred the group and its members from contacting any commissioners or attending its regular public meetings.
The commission limited communication after the horse owners sued in December to stop the panel from using purse money to cover operating costs at the state's five privately owned racetracks.
The commission also voted this year to prohibit group members from contributing 1% of their purse winnings to the association and ending the contribution of starter fees that fund medical expenses as well as fees that go toward advocacy efforts. That prompted another legal challenge by the association in state district court.
Commission Chairman Sam Bregman said in a statement Tuesday that it was the horse owners group that was violating the law.
"The New Mexico Racing Commission has stopped the New Mexico Horsemen's Association's gravy train of redirecting the purses and the New Mexico Horsemen's Association have now chosen to spend the horsemen's money on legal fees," Bregman said. "New Mexico horse racing will continue to prosper with or without the New Mexico Horsemen's Association."
Gary Mitchell, the association's attorney, accused the commissioners — who are appointed by the governor — of deliberately trying to do away with the group by stopping members from contributing shares of their purse winnings to the association and changing how purse money is distributed and for what purposes.
"They wish to get their hands on this money and use it how they see fit — which is basically to pay the costs of running the racetrack," Mitchell said, noting that would allow more money to go into the tracks' associated casinos.
Groups Sue Biden Admin Over Planned Expansion Of Nuke Work - By Michelle Liu, Associated Press/Report For America
Watchdog groups sued the Biden administration Tuesday over its plans to produce plutonium cores for the U.S. nuclear stockpile, arguing federal agencies have failed to conduct a detailed environmental review of potential impacts around installations in New Mexico and South Carolina.
A lawsuit filed against the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration calls on the federal agency that oversees U.S. nuclear research and bombmaking to take a legally required "hard look" at impacts on local communities and possible alternatives before expanding manufacturing of the plutonium cores used to trigger nuclear weapons.
The suit comes as U.S. officials have doubled down on a push to modernize the country's nuclear arsenal and the science and technology that accompany it, citing global security concerns. The nuclear agency has said most of the plutonium cores currently in the stockpile date back to the 1970s and 1980s.
Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico and the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina face deadlines to produce a set number of plutonium cores in coming years.
On Monday, the National Nuclear Security Administration gave key approval to the production project at the Savannah River Site. Yearly production of 50 or more cores at the South Carolina location is now estimated to cost between $6.9 billion to $11.1 billion, with a completion date ranging from 2032 to 2035.
The watchdog groups said Tuesday that the agency took a piecemeal approach to decide on locating the production at Los Alamos and the Savannah River Site, where nearby communities are already underrepresented and underserved.
"The environmental risk of there being an accident at either location causing the release of radioactive materials is real, and it would have significant consequences to the surrounding environment and communities," said Leslie Lenhardt, an attorney with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, which is representing the groups.
A spokesperson for the nuclear agency declined to comment, citing policy on pending litigation.
The efforts to bolster the nuclear arsenal have spanned multiple presidential administrations, with the Biden administration reviewing modernization efforts begun during the Obama years that continued under Donald Trump's presidency.
Critics of the plan are worried about lagging deadlines and bloated budgets on top of security concerns and the risks of nuclear waste and contamination. Some have argued the U.S. doesn't need the new plutonium cores.
Tom Clements of Savannah River Site Watch said the South Carolina location was picked for political reasons following the failure of a facility designed to convert weapons-grade plutonium into commercial nuclear fuel. As the Savannah River Site has never served as a storage or production site for the pits in its history, establishing pit construction there would be "a daunting technical challenge that has not been properly reviewed," Clements said.
Beginning in the 1950s, plutonium pits were produced at the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado, which had a long history of leaks, fires and environmental violations that needed a $7 billion, yearslong cleanup. That has left critics concerned about similar problems arising if new plutonium warhead factories are established in New Mexico and South Carolina.
Production moved in the 1990s to Los Alamos, where production over the years has been sporadic, plagued by safety problems and concerns about a lack of accountability.
Recreational Marijuana Legal To Possess, Grow In New Mexico - By Morgan Lee And Cedar Attanasio Associated Press
It's legal for people in New Mexico to possess recreational marijuana and grow those plants at home as of Tuesday, the same day regulators opened discussions on rules for the launch of pot sales next year.
The milestone was celebrated by cannabis consumers and advocates for criminal justice reform who say poor and minority communities have been prosecuted disproportionately for using marijuana. Now, the scent of marijuana no longer is an adequate cause for searching vehicles and property in New Mexico.
Recreational marijuana is now legal in 16 states and Washington, D.C., with Connecticut and Virginia set to join the list Thursday.
New Mexico joins a wave of states that have broadly legalized pot through the legislative process rather than by voter-approved ballot initiative. That has allowed for innovations such as marijuana "microbusiness" licenses that will allow up to 200 pot plants at seed-to-sales cannabis operations.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham heralded the day as "a huge step forward both for social justice and economic development in our state."
After legalization efforts repeatedly faltered in the Democratic-led Legislature, Lujan Grisham called a special legislative session in March to tackle cannabis reforms and signed the law in April.
"We are proactively stopping the disproportionate criminalization of people of color for cannabis possession, and we are building a new industry," Lujan Grisham said in a news release.
The new law allows people 21 and over to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants at home, or a total of 12 per household.
Regulators held an all-day public hearing to vet proposed rules for cannabis businesses to determine future licensing fees, quality controls, audit requirements and the extent of criminal background checks for producers.
The rules they are considering would allow more marijuana crops per business — nearly three times the 1,750-plant limit for medical cannabis growers. Enrollment in the medical marijuana program has surged past 100,000 people in a state of 2.1 million residents.
Medical users at the Minerva cannabis dispensary in Santa Fe welcomed the changes that took effect Tuesday — including the elimination of taxes on personal supplies of medical cannabis.
Aurore Bleck of Santa Fe, a 70-year-old retired administrator, uses marijuana to treat nerve pain associated with her multiple sclerosis. She says the changes are likely to ease the financial strain of buying cannabis.
"I'm on a budget," Bleck said. "It's gonna help me because I can have six plants instead of four. In the past, I've grown a lot."
Recreational marijuana sales are planned to start by April 1, 2022 and will include a 12% excise tax in addition to sales taxes ranging from about 5% to 9%.
The governor and lawmakers are eager to foster a new source of revenue that can help wean a heavy dependence on the state's oil industry.
Medical stores can't sell recreational cannabis yet but are looking to expand showrooms for non-medical users.
John Mondragon, 56, of Santa Fe, ordered a cannabis-infused lemonade that helps relieve his post-traumatic stress.
"I'm happy that they passed it," he said of the law legalizing recreational marijuana. "There's so many people out here with unrecognized anxiety. As they use it, it will help."
At Tuesday's regulatory hearing, officials with the state's newly founded Cannabis Control Division listened to stark warnings about overuse of agricultural water supplies and the dangers of overregulation.
"A lot of these regulations will only perpetuate the illicit market," said Kristina Caffrey, chief legal officer for Ultra Health, a leading producer and distributor of medical cannabis. "Do they allow legal entrance to effectively compete?"
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This story has been corrected to show that people in New Mexico can grow recreational marijuana at home immediately, not that it begins in April 2022.
Man Sentenced To 30 Years For Killing Navajo Police Officer - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
A man who shot and killed a tribal police officer in a remote corner of the nation's largest American Indian reservation has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
Kirby Cleveland, 37, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court for gunning down Navajo Nation Officer Houston James Largo four years ago. Cleveland's attorneys had sought several delays over the last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and to gather evidence and find witnesses to testify on his mental condition in hopes of receiving a reduced sentence.
In 2019, Cleveland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which carried a maximum penalty of life in prison. He also pleaded guilty to violating the conditions of his supervised release in a previous case in which he forced his way into a home on the Navajo Nation armed with a baseball bat and assaulted a woman in 2012.
Largo was shot March 11, 2017, on a dark road in western New Mexico while responding to a domestic violence call.
Cleveland acknowledged that he consumed alcohol that night and shot and killed Largo with a rifle. He told the court he had been attacked by a group of bandits armed with bats days earlier and fired at the officer believing he was another assailant.
A woman from the rural community saw flashing police lights that night and found Largo lying along the road, face down and bleeding. She used the radio in Largo's patrol vehicle to call for help.
Cleveland was found hiding in the hills more than a mile away, and the 27-year-old decorated police officer died the next day at an Albuquerque hospital.
The case highlighted the dangers faced nationwide by tribal police officers who often must patrol vast jurisdictions alone. It also led Navajo leaders and community members to discuss the scourge of alcohol and the constant reports of domestic violence on the reservation, which spans parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
Before the shooting, Cleveland's wife had called authorities saying he had been drinking and became angry as she and her children watched television, according to a criminal complaint. She drove him to a friend's house.
Largo arrived as a friend was driving Cleveland back home. The officer stopped the vehicle, and shots rang out soon after. The complaint said Cleveland walked home with his .22-caliber rifle and told his wife: "I shot that police officer, you need to go help him."
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Cleveland's sentence also includes four years of supervision after he is released from prison.
Navajo Nation: 3 COVID Cases, No Deaths For 3rd Day In Row – Associated Press
The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported three new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths for the third consecutive day.
Tribal health officials said the sprawling reservation that stretches into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah now has seen 30,993 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
The known death toll remains at 1,352.
Health officials said last week that the first case of the Delta variant has been identified on the reservation.
The variant has become prevalent in the U.S. over the past few weeks and has been detected in many states, including the Four Corners states.
"The first confirmed case of the Delta variant was identified in the northern part of the Navajo Nation," tribal President Jonathan Nez said in a statement Tuesday. "If we continue to get vaccinated and to wear masks in public, we will have a greater chance of minimizing the impact of the Delta variant."