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.
Photo by John Vigil.
US District Judge William P. Johnson declined today to issue a restraining order against GOP attorney Pat Rogers and private investigator Al Romero, but the voter intimidation case continues.
“I think that Mr. Rogers learned a lesson. He has learned that voter intimidation by him will result in a swift legal reaction. The swift response in court means he can’t undertake these activities without exposure. He’s going to be forced to account for his activities in a court of law,” said Nina Perales, MALDEF Southwest regional counsel and lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
“We did accomplish our important goals in the hearing because Mr. Romero testified on the stand that he would not go back to Ms. Escobedo’s house even if Mr. Rogers asked him to do it, based on the evidence that he heard,” Perales said.
Calls to Mr. Rogers and a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of New Mexico were not immediately returned.
At the hearing last night, MALDEF learned that the ballot of one of the plaintiffs, Lydia Olivarez, had been received, opened and counted without challenge. The Bernalillo County Clerk had not yet received the ballot of the other plaintiff, Dora Escobedo. She will be able to vote today with a provisional ballot, according to the clerk’s office.
Rogers said under oath that he had no immediate plans to challenge Escobedo’s vote, Perales said.
Calls to Mr. Rogers and a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of New Mexico were not immediately returned.
On Oct. 27, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed a federal lawsuit against Rogers and Romero in what it said was an attempt to “block threats and intimidation of eligible Latino voters in the days leading up to the November 4, 2008 General Election.”
The suit still asks the court to “declare that defendants violated plaintiff’s rights secured by the Voting Rights Act,” and prevent the defendants from “undertaking activities which are designed to intimidate, threaten or coerce voters concerning their right to vote in an election…”
This post has been corrected. An earlier version misidentified the judge in the case. Thanks, Dan!
