I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Four members of New Mexico’s House of Representatives walked out of the House Judiciary Committee Friday afternoon as a domestic violence bill was being heard.
HB 17, which was introduced by Rep. Nate Cote and Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, would prohibit domestic violence offenders from becoming law enforcement officers within three years of a violation; officers convicted of domestic violence crimes could lose their certification.
Rep. Bill Rehm, a former law enforcement officer, attempted to amend the bill to narrow the wording to include provisions already included in a federal law that prohibits “possession of a firearm and/or ammunition after conviction of a “qualifying” domestic violence misdemeanor,” citing the vague language that includes siblings and other non-intimate partners in definitions of a household member.
(Senator Peter Wirth‘s SB 2, which narrows the definition of a “household member,” passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee as HB 17 was being debated.)
Concerned with language in the bill, Reps. Rehm, Paul Bandy, Dennis Kintigh and James White first voted yes to the amendment, which failed by a vote of 7-4 and then left the room, leaving the committee without a quorum — the minimum number of present representatives required for a vote. Reps. Stewart, Martinez and Cervantes had not been present at the beginning of the two-plus hour testimony, though Stewart arrived in time to vote against the amendment.
Committee chair Al Park then assured the victims’ advocates who came in support of the bill that he would find another member of the committee to vote. In the end, the measure passed 8-0 and will proceed to the floor of the House for a full vote.
Alhough Bandy and White were relatively quiet during the debate, Rehm and Kintigh expressed concern that holding law enforcement officers to a different standard than other public employees was unfair.
“This type of legislation should apply to all state and county employees,” Rehm said. “It should be across the board.”
Malinda Williams of Community Against Violence in Taos disagreed, telling The Independent, “We would expect police officers to have higher standards.”
Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas agreed, saying, “I don’t see this as an anti-domestic violence bill; it’s an anti-police brutality bill. It’s weeding out who becomes a cop and who doesn’t.” Adding, “There’s a correlation between being a controlling person and being a less than stellar police officer.”
Sally Sanchez of Roberta’s Place, a Grants-based victims’ advocate group, told The Independent she was a victim whose perpetrator was a state officer and “his supervisors told me unless he killed me there was nothing I could do.”
Advocate Linda Siegle said she though the bill might also face similar hurdles in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it could be heard after a vote in the House early next week.
Earlier, the bill had passed through the Consumer and Public Affairs Committee with a 6-0 vote.
