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.
Republican candidate for governor and Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez reprimanded a prosecutor in her office for sending an anti-immigrant joke from a state e-mail account, Chief Deputy District Attorney Susan Riedel told The Independent Tuesday.
The e-mail, dated June 9 and obtained by The Independent, contained a joke about a “New Mexican girl” shooting a Mexican and an Arab with a .45 after saying “In New Mexico, we have so many illegal aliens that we don’t have to drink with the same ones twice.”
Immigration has been a major issue in the 2010 election season.
“Forwarding this e-mail violated the office policy of the Third Judicial District Attorney’s office and was clearly inappropriate and unacceptable,” Riedel said.
Asked for a copy of the e-mail, Riedel said Martinez’s office does not have a copy because it had been deleted. But asked how Martinez had confirmed the e-mail existed, Riedel said the employee had been shown a copy of the e-mail.
Riedel could not say whether or not other employees had also distributed the e-mail or had been reprimanded, she told The Independent.
Martinez makes all personnel decisions in the office and handled the reprimand personally, Riedel said. Riedel would not describe what the reprimand entailed.
“Reprimands can involve many things, not just verbal,” Riedel said. “But I can’t go into that because it’s a personnel matter.”
“We have an internal, very long e-mail policy,” Riedel said. “You can use e-mails during off hours like lunch hours or after hours, but any offensive e-mails are inappropriate and not OK at any hour.”
The Independent has asked for a copy of the e-mail policy and has filed a public records request for documents related to the incident.
