The New Mexico State Bar’s Appellate Practice Section and Young Lawyers division are hosting a brown-bag lunch with Judge Michael Bustamante of the New Mexico Court of Appeals. The lunch will begin at noon on Friday, March 13, 2015 at … Continue reading
In the Weekly Standard, Joseph Bottum has written a story called “Fracking the Constitution: Secessionism on the Left,” which criticizes the Mora County ordinance banning oil and gas drilling. (Hat tip to Overlawyered). Among other things, the ordinance purports to deprive corporations … Continue reading
Joe Palazzolo of the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog has this interesting post about Judge Robert C. Brack, a federal district court judge in Las Cruces, and reports that he has sentenced 6,708 criminal defendants over the past five years, … Continue reading
In March 2006, Michael Astorga shot Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Deputy James McGrane during a traffic stop. On Friday, in an opinion by Justice Chavez, the New Mexico Supreme Court rejected Astorga’s arguments on appeal and upheld his conviction for first-degree … Continue reading
Chief Justice Barbara Vigil has published this editorial in the UNM Daily Lobo, making the case for an increase in funding to the state judiciary. Among other things, she proposes creating two new judgeships in Las Cruces and Albuquerque, and … Continue reading
Yesterday, David Corn of Mother Jones Magazine published the following article: “As a Lawyer, Ted Cruz Defended Huge Jury Awards. As a Politician, He Opposed Them.” The article describes Ted Cruz’s involvement in two New Mexico appellate cases while in private … Continue reading
According to this report by Staci Matlock in the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Court of Appeals heard oral argument in a case brought by a teenager, Akilah Sanders-Reed, asking the Court to hold that the “public trust” doctrine requires … Continue reading
Yesterday afternoon, before a packed courtroom, the New Mexico Court of Appeals held oral argument in the assisted suicide case, Morris v. King. In no particular order, here are my impressions of the oral argument: 1. The Attorney General’s office, represented by … Continue reading
One of the more controversial cases pending before New Mexico’s appellate courts is Morris v. King (which will likely be renamed soon as Morris v. Balderas), which asks whether New Mexico’s statute banning physician-assisted suicide, NMSA 1978, section 30-2-4, violates the … Continue reading
Reies Lopez Tijerina, the land grant advocate who led the infamous raid on the Tierra Amarilla courthouse in 1967, died yesterday at age 88. The Albuquerque Journal has this obituary, written by Colleen Heild and Thom Cole. If you would … Continue reading
