ACLU

House Bill 118, a measure that would prevent registered lobbyists, state contractors and agencies seeking subsidies from making contributions to state candidates, was tabled in committee Thursday, but supporters say it’s a temporary setback. The bill would also make nonprofits that engage in partisan activities disclose their donors.

A lawsuit filed 22 years ago is still costing New Mexico money and one Senator wants to cut the cash. Sen. Rod Adair threw out the word ’scam’ as he described the millions of dollars the state has paid in an ongoing lawsuit.
But the state Department of Health said Monday it is legally required to [...]

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has settled a lawsuit, brought by the ACLU of New Mexico (ACLU-NM), after officers on a manhunt for accused cop-killer Michael Astorga searched the home of Astorga’s in-laws. According to ACLU-NM, officers surrounded the home of Cindy and Rick Poolaw, ordered family members out and handcuffed them all, then searched [...]

Marino Leyba, Jr., who Santa Fe police say shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend and her father in May, is being represented by Gary C. Mitchell of Ruidoso, who has defended 70 death penalty cases and who happens to be the president of the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico is suing a privately-run prison in Clayton for imposing cruel and unusual punishment, charging that in December, 2008, prison guards kept seven nude or semi-nude prisoners locked in a cold shower room for hours after a prison lockdown ended.

New Mexico Motor Transportation Division officers in Lordsburg have been targeting African-American truck drivers for detention, inspection and search, alleges a lawsuit filed in federal court (PDF) by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.

Several groups have sent a letter to Albuquerque’s Charter Review Task Force to protest a proposed amendment that they say would  “limit the free speech of nonprofit organizations operating in Albuquerque.”
The one-page letter, which was made public Wednesday, seeks to stop the task force from amending the city constitution to restrict activities during an election [...]

Domestic partnership legislation failed in the Senate today, by a vote of 17 to 25. Click below to read the (very, very long) transcript of our live blog, and to watch a video of the proceedings.

Some of the rights conferred to married couples are available to unmarried couples — for a price. Meanwhile, others are simply impossible to acquire.
Those two assertions come from a financial impact report released by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico on Wednesday

The Republican Party of New Mexico said Tuesday that it was standing by a poll it commissioned that included misstatements about domestic partnerships.

One group in favor of domestic partnership legislation has taken a creative route in advocating for the legislation in New Mexico.

The state Senate is expected to take up domestic-partnership legislation this week, possibly as early as Wednesday morning most likely Thursday morning. Join the New Mexico Independent and The Santa Fe Reporter as we co-host a live blog during the debate. We’ll be discussing the bill and its implications for gay, elderly, disabled New [...]

The vote may come in the State Senate as early as Monday, and supporters and opponents alike say that while they’re hopeful they’ll emerge victorious, nothing is certain.

The American Civil Liberties Union plans to lobby the Legislature to pass a law that would guard against collecting information on Americans lawfully protesting government policies. The effort comes as authorities in some jurisdictions appear to be crossing the blurry line between protecting civil rights and ensuring national security.

Nobody thought Democrat Karen Giannini was going to win her Northeast Heights Albuquerque race. Nobody. Justine Fox-Young, considered by many a Republican rising star, was sitting pretty in a so-called “safe” Republican seat. But somehow, an Air-Force veteran and divorced mother of three defied the odds and rode a Democratic wave to a new gig in Santa Fe — and without spending a dime. No one was more surprised than the candidate herself. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding?’ All I could think was: ‘Boy, Justine is really going to be upset. If she finds out what I did — or didn’t do — she’s gonna have conniptions.”