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The Journal Editorial Board and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller have come out against New Mexico’s proposed civil rights bill. The bill would make timely justice available, in state courts, to victims of police misconduct. The bill would remove the city’s ability to delay justice through the use of a qualified immunity defense. The Journal and Mayor Keller say compensating victims of incompetent police work is just too expensive. They provide no evidence to support their claim that the bill will add any cost to taxpayers. In fact, passage of the bill would encourage early settlement of most litigation and save municipalities millions of dollars in defense attorney fees and expert fees.
COVID-19 by the numbers New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 308 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 181,060. The health department has designated 123,507 of those cases as recovered. Bernalillo County had 74 new cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 52 and Sandoval County with 34. Santa Fe County had eight new cases. The state also announced 12 additional deaths, including one from Santa Fe County: a woman in her 60s who had been hospitalized. There have now been 129 fatalities in Santa Fe County and 3,550 statewide. As of yesterday, 290 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. You can read all of SFR s COVID-19 coverage here. If you ve had experiences with COVID-19, we would like to hear from you.
February 17, 2021
The bill that would end qualified immunity as a defense for police officers who infringe on a victim’s civil rights passed the House of Representatives Tuesday.
HB 4, the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, passed 39 to 29 after a three-hour debate on the House floor. The bill sponsor, Democrat Georgene Louis, of Albuquerque and Acoma, said the bill has been amended as it made its way through the legislative process to address some concerns of those opposed to the bill.
The bill does two things. It allows individuals in the state whose civil rights have been violated to sue a governmental body, whether municipality, county or the state, in state district court for monetary damages up to $2 million. Placing a cap on the amount of damages a plaintiff could sue was one of the amendments made during committee hearings.
Legislature: Historic New Mexico Civil Rights Act Passes House losalamosreporter.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from losalamosreporter.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.