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.
COVID-19 by the numbers New Mexico health officials over the weekend reported 1,494 new COVID-19 cases: 859 on Saturday and 635 on Sunday. Santa Fe County had a total of 147 new cases. On Saturday, there were 80 new cases here, half of which were from the Southside 87507 ZIP code, which ranked first in the state for new cases. On Sunday, Santa Fe County had 67 new cases, 28 from 87507, which ranked second and 18 from 87505, which ranked eighth. There have now been 169,205 cases statewide; the health department has designated 94,141 of them as recovered. The state also announced 68 more deaths: 38 on Saturday and 30 on Sunday, bringing the statewide total number of fatalities to 3,145. Santa Fe County had two more deaths: a woman in her 20s on Saturday and a woman in her 40s, who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions, on Sunday. The health department said it was unable to provide the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations yesterday due to a disruption in reporting, but 62
New Mexico House Kicks Off Historic 2021 Session
STATE News:
SANTA FE The New Mexico House of Representatives called to order its 55th Legislature at noon Tuesday.
This year’s 60-day session will be a historic first in state history, with the majority of the session taking place virtually due to COVID-19.
Recognizing the pandemic-related challenges facing New Mexicans, House Democrats are focused on delivering relief to hard-working families and small businesses, and solutions to uplift a generation.
Legislative priorities this session include economic recovery, health care, civil rights, rural infrastructure, climate change and education.
“We will not be deterred from doing the important work ahead of us. Our priority is economic recovery for small businesses and hardworking New Mexicans along with solutions that address the systemic challenges facing the people of New Mexico,” said Speaker of the House Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe) in his opening remarks.