Court says 2008 law banning registered sex offenders from all public libraries violates First Amendment.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2012

CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Today, in a First Amendment lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, the United States 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that Albuquerque’s ban on sex offenders from accessing the city’s public libraries is unconstitutional. This decision affirmed the U.S. District Court of New Mexico’s ruling that the ban infringed too broadly upon the fundamental First Amendment right to receive information.

“The Tenth Circuit is right in affirming that the City of Albuquerque cannot categorically exclude an entire group of people from a constitutionally protected space,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “People have a First Amendment right to receive information in public libraries and the government needs to explicitly justify its actions if it’s going to infringe on such a fundamental right.”

The 10^th Circuit found that, “The First Amendment includes a fundamental right to receive information. By prohibiting registered sex offenders for accessing the City’s public libraries, the City’s ban precludes these individuals from exercising this right in a particular government forum.” The Court further concluded that the City of Albuquerque did not show proper justification for the overly broad and overly restrictive policy.

“When the government wants to restrict rights as fundamental as those protected under the First Amendment, the bar for justification is set very high,” said ACLU-NM Cooperating Attorney Brendan Egan. “We do not believe the City of Albuquerque met that obligation, and we are encouraged that one of the highest courts in the nation agrees.”

Read the 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals decision here: DOE_OPINION – AFFIRMED

###

Office Manager

Job Description

Overview

The Office Manager will be responsible for ensuring the smooth daily operations of the office, this includes handling various accounting and payroll functions, providing administrative support, maintaining IT systems and other office equipment, handling building maintenance and tenant relations, and working with outside vendors and contractors. The Office Manager is a central position in the organization and is in frequent contact with staff in both the Albuquerque and Las Cruces offices.

Under the direction of the Deputy Director the principal job responsibilities of the Office Manager include but are not limited to:

Accounting and Finance

• Guarantee timely and accurate recording of all financial transactions in Quickbooks.
• Manage accounts payable and receivables. This includes payment and data entry, making deposits, invoicing, and file maintenance for audit and archival purpose, as well as obtaining/verifying authorization for staff expense reports and irregular bills.
• Process payroll including prompt filing of all payroll taxes, maintain payroll files, and timely payment of health care, dental and other employee benefits.
• Work with Development staff to ensure that Quickbooks matches the donor database.
• Ensure timely completion of bank reconciliations, general journal entries, taxes and a variety of financial reports for the board of directors and other entities

Office Operations

• Ensure an organized and efficient work environment.
• Maintain sufficient inventory of office supplies and educational materials.
• Make sure that all office equipment including computers, computer network, printers, copiers and phone system are working properly and well maintained. Troubleshoot all problems.
• Provide general office support, i.e. pick-up and distribute mail, process outgoing mail; order business cards and office and cleaning supplies; route incoming calls and reception of office visitors; maintain pre-paid bulk mail and in-house postage meter account.
• Schedule meetings and oversee meeting logistics; maintain office-wide calendar of events and make travel arrangements.
• Ensure office building is well maintained. Schedule repairs as needed.
• Organize and maintain office-wide systems for files and records, including electronic files. Ensure compliance with records retention and confidentiality guidelines.

Administrative Support

• Provide administrative support for board and program activities including arranging meetings, trainings, preparation of materials including outgoing correspondence etc.
• Attend and take minutes at board committee meetings.
• Maintain records of board minutes, materials, board rosters and committee assignments.
• Provide other administrative support to program and fundraising initiatives.

Qualifications

• Commitment to protecting civil rights and civil liberties for all with an understanding of the basic mission of the ACLU.
• A commitment to diversity; a personal approach that values the individual and respects differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability and socio-economic circumstance, and able to work with diverse individuals within the organization and broader community.
• At least 3 years bookkeeping and office management/administrative support experience in a professional environment.
• Proficiency with QuickBooks and knowledge of accounting principles and procedures and their application to basic accounting.
• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. Knowledge of database programs a plus.
• Detail oriented with excellent organization and time management skills.
• A confident and professional work style, with initiative and strong problem solving skills.
• Strong office skills that include maintaining organizational systems and practices to support a high-performing, employee-friendly office environment.
• Able to work independently and work well with others. Emotionally mature and self-motivated, with a sense of humor in order to maintain balance and perspective.
• Organized and able to set priorities, meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks in a busy work environment.
• Good typing and grammar skills, as well as professional telephone manner.
• Able to maintain confidentiality of records and information.
• A valid driver’s license and reliable car is necessary for travel in Albuquerque.
  • Be available for occasional after-hours and weekend events.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary based on experience. Excellent benefits include paid vacation, medical and dental insurance, 401k plan, life and long-term disability insurance, and generous paid holidays.

To Apply

To apply, candidates should email a letter of interest, including salary requirements, and a resume to HR@aclu-nm.org

Applications will be accepted until February 8, 2012

The ACLU-NM is an affirmative action / equal opportunity employer and encourages individuals of every race, creed ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity to apply.

ACLU-NM Files Motion for Summary Judgment in NM District Court

Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) of New Mexico filed a motion for summary judgment in New Mexico State Court, Second District, demanding that Secretary of State Dianna Duran stop withholding public information in violation of the Inspection of Public Records Act. The motion claims that Duran wrongfully refused to produce documentation related to her March 15, 2011 allegations that foreign nationals have illegally voted in New Mexico elections. ACLU-NM asks the court to instruct Duran to disclose the list of 117 foreign nationals  who are allegedly registered to vote and the list of 37 foreign nationals who have allegedly cast ballots in previous elections. For nine months, Duran has refused to disclose these public records, which are the basis for her claims of a “culture of corruption” in New Mexico’s elections.

“Secretary of State Duran undermined the public’s confidence in our elections when she alleged fraud, then refused to substantiate those claims,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Making unfounded allegations that cast doubt on the integrity of our entire system of government is reckless. This is not how a transparent and accountable government should behave.”

Immediately following Duran’s announcement in March, the ACLU of New Mexico filed a public records request to verify her allegations of voting irregularities. Her office refused, incorrectly claiming that the information was protected under executive privilege. Duran’s office rendered useless the little information they did relinquish through heavy redaction. In response, ACLU-NM filed a lawsuit, claiming that Duran violated the Inspection of Public Records Act by withholding important information the public has the right to access.

In the discovery process of the lawsuit, the ACLU of New Mexico forced the Secretary of State to relinquish more than 100 pages of documentation that the Secretary of State falsely claimed was protected by executive privilege and the New Mexico Driver Privacy Protection Act. However, the Office of the Secretary of State still denies the public access to the lists of alleged foreign national voters and the signature rosters/checklists that would prove they cast ballots in an election.

“New Mexicans shouldn’t have to sue their government to access the public records they are entitled to under law,” said ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Laura Schauer Ives. “Unfortunately, it seems that the Secretary of State would rather fight lawsuits on the taxpayers’ dime than allow the public to hold her official statements up to the light.”

Read the motion for summary judgment: Motion for Summary Judgment.

Plaintiff’s Motion for SJ Exhibits A-I

Plaintiff’s Motion for SJ – Exhibit J pt. 1

Plaintiff’s Motion for SJ – Exhibit J pt. 2

Plaintiff’s Motion for SJ – Exhibit J pt. 3

Plaintiff’s Motion for SJ Exhibits K-Q

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 10, 2012

CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 7, 2011

EL PASO, TX – Nicolás, 57, lived and worked for several years in the United States, where he emigrated to make a better life for his family. This year, he made the decision to return to Mexico to reunite with his family, but Border Patrol agents apprehended him in the “Los Paisanos” bus station, a private transportation company in El Paso, Texas. His bus was destined for Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, when border patrol agents boarded the bus and began asking passengers for “their papers.”

Even though Nicolás told the officials that he was on the way back to Mexico, the agents removed him from the bus and placed him in deportation proceedings. The agents also confiscated four boxes and a suitcase that held Nicolás’s clothing, personal belongings, and trade tools he had purchased over the years. Two days later, he was able to recuperate the boxes with the help of the Centro de Derechos Humanos del Migrante, A.C. (CDHM) and the Humane Repatriation Program. However, the suitcase is still unaccounted for and no one has taken responsibility for its disappearance.

“Unfortunately Nicolás’s experience is not unique; thousands of individuals who have been apprehended by immigration officials in the United States lose personal belongings when detained,” notes Lizeth Martinez, lawyer of CDHM in Ciudad Juarez. “These are hardworking, honest individuals who are being deported without their government-issued identifications, cash or bank debit cards, which makes it harder for them to find steady work in Mexico or even to pay for food and shelter while they figure out how to put their lives back together.”

Not having identification also makes it difficult for these individuals to prove their identity at interior checkpoints when attempting to return to their original hometowns in different parts of Mexico, creating a great deal of uncertainty and making them vulnerable to exploitation by local authorities or criminal elements while on their voyage.

A Survey on Migration on the Northern Mexican Border, conducted by the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), showed that the failure to return personal belongings to deported persons increased by 400 percent between 2007 and 2010, from 6,650 to 34,820 individuals. In the last four months, CDHM has restored personal belongings to 37 individuals were deported to Ciudad Juarez.

Border Patrol agents issue a 30-day notice to detainees prior to the destruction of seized property. But if immigration officials hold an individual in a long-term detention facility or detainees face charges of illegal entry or illegal reentry, they may be unable to respond within 30 days and their personal property is destroyed. Also if the person has not been adequately informed about the 30-day limit, attempts to regain his or her possessions even one day late, results in lost belongings.

Nicolás’s experience is also a disturbing example of Customs and Border Patrol’s questionable practice of boarding buses and trains in the interior of the United States and demanding “papers” from passengers. A recent report published by the New York Civil Liberties Union and other NY immigrant advocacy groups showed that between 2006 and 2009, most of the 2,743 people apprehended by CPB during sweeps of public transportation in New York bus and train stations were of Latino/Hispanic descent or people of color[1].

“Border Patrol agents in the United States should not be asking for papers from bus passengers who are traveling within the United States and much less asking for these papers from individuals who are leaving the country,” notes Vicki B. Gaubeca, director of the ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights. “The NYCLU report illustrates how border patrol agents may use racial profiling when asking passengers for their documents. This practice needs to stop.”

“In addition, Border Patrol has the responsibility to return personal belongings to individuals prior to their deportation,” added Ms. Gaubeca. “Not returning an individual’s belongings contradicts the American core values of justice and due process.”

###

Contact:

Vicki Gaubeca, Tel. (575) 527 0664 or (575) 373-5789.

Director, Regional Center for Border Rights.

American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.

TUCSON, AZ—A new report from Tucson-based organization No More Deaths (NMD) finds U.S. Border Patrol systematically deprives detainees of basic rights, medical care and food and that such abuses represent a “culture of cruelty.” This culture is fostered by a lack of oversight and accountability for the agency, part of the largest federal law enforcement body in the United States. The ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights (RCBR) supported this investigation by using the Freedom of Information Act to acquire the short-term custody guidelines upon which the report is based.

No More Deaths and partner organizations interviewed nearly 13,000 people to compile the Culture of Cruelty report, documenting abuse of migrants in Border Patrol short-term custody. One interview included a 54-year-old man who had lived in Los Angeles for 35 years. Border Patrol detained him in October 2010, as he tried to return home after visiting his ailing mother in Mexico. He suffered a back injury when the Border Patrol vehicle transporting him flipped over. After hospital treatment, he was deported and then died in Nogales, Sonora after his medication ran out.
Says Danielle Alvarado, a No More Deaths volunteer and co-author of the report: “What we’ve found is clearly not the result of a few ‘bad apples’. We continue to hear the same stories from thousands of people, released from different Border Patrol stations, year after year. They are alarmingly consistent.”

According to the interviews, individuals suffering severe dehydration are routinely deprived of water; people with life-threatening medical conditions are denied treatment; children and adults are beaten during apprehensions and in custody; many are crammed into cells and subjected to extreme temperatures, deprived of sleep and subject to humiliation and other forms of psychological abuse. Alvarado suggests that many of the practices documented in the report constitute torture under international law.

Conditions in Border Patrol custody have not changed much since 2008, the volunteers say, when NMD published its first Border Patrol abuse report.

“The U.S. Border Patrol continues to abuse and mistreat people in its custody. By failing to address this known problem, the Border Patrol and DHS betray America’s tradition of professionalism and basic respect for humanity in law enforcement,” said ACLU-NM RCBR Director Vicki Gaubeca. “The culture of detention and deportation is inherently abusive and destroys hard-working families. It is clear that the Border Patrol cannot police itself and needs independent oversight to ensure that inhumane treatment of men, women and children in its custody does not continue.”

The ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights and No More Deaths urge an immediate end to abusive practices, as well as the creation of a transparent, independent and accountable system of oversight for the U.S. Border Patrol – including an overhaul of the complaint investigation process.

Community organizations in Tucson, Douglas, El Paso, Albuquerque, Seattle, Detroit and Boston are holding simultaneous press events promoting the findings in the report.

The new report is available online at www.cultureofcruelty.org.

CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org

###