New Mexico’s judicial system is a pyramid.
At the wide base, many lower court judges serve on numerous trial courts, including magistrate, metropolitan and district court.
Above them, where the pyramid narrows, are the 10 judges sitting on the Court of Appeals and, at the top, the five justices of the state Supreme Court.
Like most lawyers, I have a settled expectation that judges in the fat part of the pyramid will follow orders from judges at the top. It’s a strictly hierarchical system, like the military. Or, at least, it’s supposed to be.
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I doubt I was the only lawyer in the state to be startled by a district judge’s open defiance.