I’m asking you to vote NO on House Bill 4 (2021) cosponsored by Georgene Louis and Speaker Brian Egolf. House Bill 4 or the New Mexico Civil Rights Act will create a cause of action for claims against local city and county governments that could have a devastating impact to municipality budgets.

New Mexico citizens already have the right to sue law enforcement in state court under the Tort Claims Act, and they can collect up to $1,050,000. HB 4 provides for uncapped money damages that will negatively impact our small and rural community services. Eliminating these caps and including attorney fees in what can be collected will open the flood gate son frivolous lawsuits and leave our communities holding the bag.

Worse than that is the long term impact this bill will have on law enforcement across the state, this bill could leave county jails, sheriff and police departments uninsurable. Forfeiting qualified immunity for law enforcement would only exasperate our public safety crisis here in New Mexico, making it almost impossible to recruit officers and deputies. Ultimately taxpayers will be paying the bill while attorneys get rich, and our communities suffer a loss of funding and law enforcement personnel.

We can’t afford to make this mistake. Please vote NO on House Bill 4 and protect our community dollars and law enforcement.

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"I’m asking you to vote NO on Senate Bill 227 (2021) sponsored by Senator Linda Lopez. SB 227 or the Inspection of the Police Misconduct Investigation will take away valuable tools that law enforcement desperately need, like the ability to use police dogs to apprehend suspects, while also placing egregious burdens on law enforcement. This bill doesn’t provide for training or funding to help reform law enforcement agencies, but rather forces unreasonable standards on agencies across the state. This bill will also make police officer personnel records open to the public, potentially making them targets.

As a state, we are facing unprecedented crime, and the last thing we need to do is create more hurdles for law enforcement. This bill will not lessen the chances for a deadly encounter but could very well increase those odds, by removing valuable non lethal means.

I am deeply concerned that this bill will negatively impact our ability to recruit and retain officers while also increasing crime in our communities. That’s why I’m pleading with you to vote no on this bill. Our communities, our kids and our law enforcement officers deserve better."

-New Mexico Law Enforcement Coalition

You can also send emails through NM Law Enforcement Coalition directly to the legislatures 

HB4

https://p2a.co/iLudKLv?fbclid=IwAR3LlFSOnFUYHbhH9qSFofujs92UB4anpD4VMG9vVeTkNHvMSZpjPkouz-M

SB 227

https://p2a.co/9B7czH0?fbclid=IwAR2I-y6mGTyWPr_zMLQbqSWOQ0_DKfDwgPq23rV_XUrqmavsfpqWzUo_aac