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On Tuesday, September 27,  Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Wiener told the ACLU to “go to hell.”

No joke. You can watch the video clip for yourself:

I spoke on behalf of the ACLU at the commission meeting on Tuesday in support of a resolution that would prohibit county ceremonies from being held in places of worship. I told the commission that when a government agency holds official ceremonies in places of worship, it sends a message to the community that a certain religious group or set of beliefs is preferred—and that’s just not right.

Unfortunately, I was outnumbered 30 to 1 at the meeting and things got a little ugly. Then Wiener told us to go to hell. Then the commission voted down the resolution 3-2. It was kind of a rough day.

But that’s what the ACLU does, we take principled stands—often in the face of fierce opposition—to insure that our freedoms are not trampled by the tyranny of the majority. Today, I’d like to invite you to stand with the ACLU of New Mexico by letting your commissioners (especially Wiener!) know that the separation of church and state matters to you.

This resolution didn’t come out of the blue. Earlier this month Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston chose his own church as the venue for the graduation ceremony for new deputies. Some of the new deputies were upset that, on their special day, they would be forced to attend a ceremony in a place of worship when plenty of secular, county-owned venues were available.

We want our supporters to speak up on this issue because it is important to show that what happened at that commission meeting was unacceptable. The majority of Americans value the separation of church and state because they know that both government and religion are at their best when they are not entangled with one another.

Sincerely,

Peter Simonson

Executive Director

By Peter Simonson, ACLU-NM Executive Director

You may have heard about the APD’s sting scheme: plant a daypack by the ATM at 4^th and Gold, wait for someone to take it, then follow and arrest the person for theft.  The APD has nabbed at least five people with the plot, including one person who has spent 14 days in jail.  Presumably those individuals are facing 3^rd degree felony charges–and the possibility of a permanent criminal record–because the APD reportedly filled the daypack with $2,500 worth of valuables, including a laptop.

Yesterday, Public Safety Director Darren White notified the ACLU that he and APD Chief Ray Schultz had decided to shut down the operation.

Stopping the sting scheme was the right thing to do, but troubling questions remain.  Didn’t the officers worry about false arrests?  They couldn’t know that a person’s motives for taking the daypack were criminal.  What if they arrested someone who thought the daypack was abandoned, or someone who intended to turn it over to the police?

Doesn’t APD have enough crime to investigate without manufacturing new crimes?  And baiting otherwise innocent people into turning criminal?

KOAT-TV reported that APD devised the scheme “after several reports of backpacks and purses being stolen in the University area.”  But the University area is miles away from the sting location and lies on the opposite side of the freeway.  Did officers truly think a sting in downtown Albuquerque was going to dampen crime in the University area?  Or was that just a feeble cover for a misguided operation?

The ACLU has learned of a similar entrapment scheme where APD officers set out an expensive bicycle in public and wait for someone to steal it.  Did Mr. White and Chief Schultz shut down this program as well?

The community deserves answers to these questions—some reassurance that APD officers aren’t abusing their authority.  The ACLU has contacted both Darren White’s office and that of the Police Chief to request a meeting and await their response.

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXRSPrfxIQI

By Peter Simonson, ACLU-NM Executive Director

The GOP’s efforts to convince voters that the election system is wracked by fraud took another hit last week when the NM Court of Appeals rejected the Party’s effort to get a hold of the names and addresses of undocumented immigrants who have received state driver’s licenses.  The GOP had hoped to use the information to check whether non-citizen immigrants were registered to vote in New Mexico.

Talk about a wild goose chase.  What immigrant is going to risk felony charges, permanent deportation, and the total upheaval of his or her family just to cast a ballot in a US election?  Barely fifty percent of American citizens exercise that right even in the best of years!

What’s really concerning is how readily local GOP leaders will sacrifice individuals’ right to privacy in the zeal to find evidence of voter fraud.  Two years ago the ACLU sued members of the Republican Party for violating state privacy laws after the Party obtained copies of individual voter registration forms and released the information to the press.  GOP members also used the information to track down lawful voters and challenge their right to vote in their homes.

Americans don’t need another disincentive to vote, like the belief that fraud so compromises the election system that voting is fruitless.  If the GOP truly has the best interests of our electoral democracy in mind, it should devote its effort to encouraging New Mexicans to take part in elections.  It could start by promoting mobile vote registration campaigns and removing ID requirements for voting in Albuquerque elections.