Attorney General Hector Balderas

Jeff Proctor from the Santa Fe Reporter joins me to give some historical context into criminal justice reform in New Mexico.  He also provides details on HB 263 and how that bill will affect those on probation and parole. 

New Mexico’s three Roman Catholic dioceses have begun the process of turning over thousands of records related to priest sex abuse and cover-up.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe now acknowledges 78 New Mexico priests accused of sexually abusing children since the 1930s. But many other accused priests from elsewhere in the United States spent time at treatment centers run by a Catholic order called the Servants of the Paraclete in New Mexico.

On Tuesday, Sept. 4, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas ordered the state’s three Roman Catholic dioceses to give up decades’ worth of church records relating to allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up. Church leaders in Santa Fe, Gallup and Las Cruces have all said they'll cooperate. KUNM sat down with Balderas to talk about the investigation.

Attorneys general across the country are claiming that a 2016 law is preventing the Drug Enforcement Agency from stopping the overprescribing of opioid painkillers. This week New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas signed on to a letter with 44 other AG’s calling on Congress to repeal the “Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act,” saying the law has handcuffed law enforcement from addressing the epidemic. 

New Mexico’s attorney general is opposing a move by President Trump to undo an Obama-era rule protecting nursing home patients.

New Mexico’s top prosecutor is taking one of the state’s largest health care providers to court over alleged tax fraud. Attorney General Hector Balderas announced the lawsuit against Presbyterian Health Services yesterday.

Attorneys General in New Mexico and California are suing the federal government over its delay of Obama-era air pollution rules. 

Officials from a hospital in Las Vegas are responding to concerns about the closure of the ob-gyn unit there more than six months ago.

The CEO of Alta Vista Regional Hospital, R. Chris Wolf, said in a letter to Attorney General Hector Balderas that the rural hospital is not the only one in New Mexico that has trouble staffing for labor and delivery services.