Democracy for New Mexico

ACLU Sues Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center for Rape of Inmate

Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) for failing to protect inmate Roman Gallardo from physical and sexual assault by another prisoner while Gallardo was incarcerated for a DWI offense in 2006.  The rape took place after Gallardo, an openly gay man, was forced to share a cell with an inmate who was known to have sexually assaulted at least one other prisoner.

“Jail officials knowingly placed Mr. Gallardo in a dangerous situation,” said Peter Simonson, ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director.  “Their failure to adequately train and supervise detention officers and provide safeguards against physical and sexual violence amounted to deliberate indifference towards Gallardo’s safety, rights, and bodily integrity.”

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(Updated) HB9: 2008 NM Domestic Partner Act Passes House 33-31

One house down. Steve Terrell has the story. More later. Update 1: The AP has the roll calll on today's vote on HB9 in the New Mexico House. See below. Here's what Barry Massey at the AP had to say. He included a few quotes from legislators.

Update 2: From EQNM - This was an extremely close vote and we expect the vote in the Senate to be even closer. Before we make it there, we will have to pass two committees on the Senate side. It is our expectation that we will be heard on Tuesday, January 29, 2008. Please plan to attend this important committee hearing and prepare testimony on why Domestic Partnership is important to you. If your representative voted for the bill, please take action and thank them by clicking here.

February 4th we plan to have the largest lobby day in Equality New Mexico History. It is our hope to have the bill near the Senate Floor at this time. Please take time to rally with hundreds of other New Mexicans in support of HB9. We will be hosting three separate Lobby Day Trainings this year at 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM. Please sign up by e-mailing chris@eqnm.org or calling 505.224.2766 and we will send you more information closer to the 4th.

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Kucinich Withdrawing from Prez Race

Discussed in an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer (with video). He'll announce it formally tomorrow and won't endorse any other primary candidate. He'll continue running for his 7th term in Congress. He has attracted a strong primary contender for the seat.

Guest Blog by Bill McCamley: All You Need is Rove?

This is a guest blog by Bill McCamley, who's a Democrat running for Congress in NM-02. Bill is one of the candidates the NM netroots is supporting in our True Blue New Mexico effort. Please donate if you can.

What Martin Heinrich wrote yesterday about Karl Rove and George Bush is absolutely true.  Rove is “the epitome of everything that’s wrong with Washington,” and I encourage you to read Martin's comments about how Rove and company have poisoned the political atmosphere in Washington.  However, I want to focus on one particular reason why Rove, President Bush, and the Bush Administration have been so destructive: They put politics and greed over competent governance.

From the string of unqualified and incompetent officials they chose to put in Bush’s Cabinet—for example, Michael Brown and Alberto Gonzalez, to name just two—to the billions of dollars lost in unmonitored no-bid contracts in Iraq, to letting industries completely decide their own regulatory policies, this Administration has been one long nightmare of incompetence.

As 2008 kicks off, the evidence of this incompetence just gets stronger.  The economic divide between “haves” and “have-nots” continues to grow wider.  With a recession either looming or already underway, families throughout New Mexico—and especially the many poor counties in the 2nd Congressional District— will find it harder to make ends meet.  The Bush Administration still has no plan to end the War in Iraq.  And almost fifty million Americans—including one in five New Mexicans—still have no health insurance.  These facts will be the legacy of Bush and Rove.

Instead of this failure and the politics of fear, there is another way. 

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Today: Big Brothers Big Sisters Open House

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico is hosting a mentoring month open house today, Thursday, January 24, 2008, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM at their headquarters at 5400 Phoenix NE in Albuquerque. Refreshments will be served and there will be a recognition ceremony at 6:00 PM. Meet Big Brother Big Sister staff, volunteers and community partners and learn how you can get involved. For more info, call Irene at 837-9223, extension 41. Click for an invitation (pdf). BBBS describe their organization and what they achieve this way:

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NM Dem Presidential Preference Caucus: Only Chance to Vote for Dem Prez Nominees

I spoke this morning with Ana Canales, who chairs the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County. She expressed concern that some Democrats seem to have misconceptions about the NM Dem Party's February 5, 2008 Presidential Preference Caucus and our later state primary election on June 3, 2008.

February 5th Dem Caucus
Just to be clear, the only opportunity for registered Democrats to vote for their favorite Dem presidential nominee is at the February 5th Caucus. The Caucus will take place at 184 polling places around the state, and is organized and paid for by the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

You will need to know your precinct number in order to find your Caucus polling place. Type in your address to determine your precinct if you live in Bernalillo County. Statewide, you can check to see if you are registered to vote and find your precinct number by using the Secretary of State's Voter View tool. Your caucus polling place may or may not be the same as the one where you usually vote in regular elections. Check here to determine the location of your February 5th caucus polling place. This page has Caucus locations for all precincts in all New Mexico counties.

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Obama Airs Two New Ads in NM

"Chances"


"President"

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(Updated) Thursday: HB9-NM Domestic Partner Bill to House Floor

UPDATE 1/24/08: HB 9 passed the New Mexico House of Representatives by a margin of 33-31 today. Read my post on the victory. The bill goes next to the New Mexico Senate, where it was killed last year by 1 vote.
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If you haven't yet called your representative about HB 9, please do so now.

From EQNM: The Domestic Partnership Rights and Responsibilities act will be heard before the Full House Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 10:00 AM. As HB 9 is the only Bill on the day’s agenda it is important that we pack the gallery to show the entire body of representatives the massive amount of support behind the fight for fairness.

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Prominent New Mexicans Endorse Obama

At a press conference at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe today, it was announced that State Treasurer James Lewis, former U.S. Sen. and State Democratic Party Chairman Fred R. Harris, Attorney John Pound and former State Rep. Patsy Trujillo of Santa Fe would serve as New Mexico co-chairs for the Barack Obama campaign. Other well-known New Mexicans who are supporting Obama include:

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Harry Reid: Telecom Amnesty Activist

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gets tough on fellow Democrats while apparently trying to "earn" more large donations from telecom companies. How else can it be explained? He's like a walking, talking advertisement for public financing of elections. He clearly wants to pass the awful FISA bill that grants retroactive amnesty to corporate lawbreakers and give Bush everything he wants in terms of warrantless surveillence -- and he wants to do it fast. To call Reid's office and let him know how you feel about his behavior: 202-224-3542.