PED “anti-disparagement” regulation illegally restricts teachers’ free speech.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) alleging that a regulation that prohibits public education employees from “disparaging” standardized tests violates New Mexico constitutional free speech protections. The non-disparagement regulation states that teachers and other employees are prohibited from “disparag[ing] or diminish[ing] the significance, importance, or use of standardized tests,” on pain of “suspension or revocation of a person’s educator or administrator licensure or other PED licensure…” In its lawsuit, the ACLU of New Mexico brings multiple state constitutional claims against PED including viewpoint discrimination, denial of due process of law, and violation of New Mexico public school students’ fundamental right to education.
 
“The Public Education Department can’t enact sweeping restrictions intended to intimidate teachers and silence viewpoints that they don’t like,” said ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney Maria Sanchez. “Beyond the illegality of this restriction, there is something unsettling and fundamentally un-American about the government compelling praise for its policies. Our society is in the midst of an important conversation about what role standardized testing should play in education, and the government shouldn’t be trying to forcibly elbow teachers’ voices out of the public square.”
 
The ACLU of New Mexico filed the lawsuit on behalf of four Albuquerque grade school teachers, a special education teacher in Santa Fe, and an Albuquerque parent who currently has a child in the public school system. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the non-disparagement regulation unconstitutional and block its continued implementation in the state.
 
“Parents need honest and accurate information from teachers in order to make important decisions about what is best for their children’s education and well being,”said plaintiff Mary Mackie, a teacher at Montezuma elementary School in Albuquerque, NM. “As the grandparent of a special needs student, I know that these tests aren’t right for every child. But under the current gag-order, I am forced to keep parents in the dark about any negative consequences testing might have on their child or risk losing my teaching license.”
 
A full copy of the legal complaint is available at aclu-nm.org: https://www.aclu-nm.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Complaint-FINAL-3-29-16-T.pdf
 
ACLU-NM Legal Director Alexandra Freedman Smith, ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Maria Sanchez, and ACLU-NM Cooperating Attorneys Laura Schauer Ives, Katherine Wray, and Jane Katherine Girard represent the plaintiffs in this case.

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New repatriation agreements between DHS and Mexico call for personal property to be returned to owners prior to deportation

LAS CRUCES, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico’s Regional Center for Border Rights (RCBR) and the Programa de Defensa e Incidencia Binacional (PDIB) in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico welcomed the inclusion of protections for migrants’ personal property in the new repatriation agreements between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the government of Mexico. The new repatriation agreements include the following language:

 

“The signatory participants should take all feasible steps to ensure that property, valuables, and money retained, are available for return to the rightful owner at the time of initial release from DHS custody.”

 

For years, border rights advocacy groups have expressed concern over the prevalent practice of deporting migrants without returning personal belongings and valuables prior to removal. Deporting migrants without their personal identification documents, cell phones, and cash can leave individuals stranded far from home and vulnerable to abuse.
The following can be attributed to ACLU of New Mexico RCBR director Vicki Gaubeca:

“These agreements are a victory for border rights activists who have long sought to end the systematic robbing of migrants during the deportation process. It is not humane or fair to strip people of their personal belongings, including IDs and other important personal documents, and then strand them in a place they’ve likely never been before. Americans are better than that, and today’s updated repatriation agreements bring us closer to treating others with the same dignity and humanity we would want for ourselves. We urge Border Patrol and ICE to swiftly comply with this requirement.”

The following can be attributed to PDIB Director Blanca Navarrete:

“The new repatriation agreements signal a firm commitment by the U.S. and Mexican governments to end the widespread, cruel dispossession of migrants by U.S. government agents. For years, we have seen the grave consequences of dispossession and we are pleased that the governments are committed to ending this abuse against migrants.”

A 2013 study led by the University of Arizona, Bordering on Criminal: The Routine Abuse of Migrants in the Removal System, documented the widespread practice of robbing migrants’ of their personal belongings—one of every three migrants reported dispossession at the hands of U.S. government agents. The rate of dispossession more than doubled for migrants arrested or deported in the El Paso Border Patrol Sector, which includes all of New Mexico. This figure excluded perishable belongings like food or water, and of particular concern, U.S. government agencies failed to return migrants’ money, cell phones, or the Mexican IDs they carried in over 20% of the cases where migrants reported dispossession.

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New Mexico Joins National, Bipartisan Effort to Empower Americans to #TakeCTRL of Their Privacy
 
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Today, Senator Peter Wirth (D – Santa Fe) and Representative Jim Dines (R - Albuquerque) asked their legislative colleagues in New Mexico to focus on the issue of personal data privacy and to support the New Mexico Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which would make important advancements in protecting the privacy of all people in New Mexico. The bill simply requires police to get a warrant before accessing New Mexicans’ personal, private electronic data.
 
The announcement in New Mexico is one of 17 taking place simultaneously throughout of the country — from Hawaii to North Carolina, from Alaska to Alabama, and from New Hampshire to New York to New Mexico — with a diverse, bipartisan coalition of elected officials and citizens coming together to tell the nation they care about their digital privacy and are willing to fight for it. The message from these collective actions by the states is clear: where Congress is unwilling or unable to act to protect Americans’ privacy, or takes actions that are insufficient, the states are more than willing to step up and fill the void. Together, these states have introduced a range of new legislation that includes protections for student privacy, location tracking and personal data.

“Today, along with legislators in states across the country we are standing up to affirm our states’ and nation’s commitment to protecting Americans’ privacy,” said Senator Wirth, the bill’s senate sponsor. “The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is a commonsense measure that would make important advancements in protecting the privacy of all New Mexicans. The citizens of this state and nation should feel that their governments are working to protect their privacy, not violate it.”

“This is a commonsense procedure that would require New Mexico law enforcement to obtain proper search warrants and wiretap orders before intruding into the privacy of citizens’ cellphones and other electronic equipment,” said Representative Dines. “The bill provides exceptions in case of emergencies. As shown by Senator Wirth and myself, this is not a Republican or a Democrat bill, but is a bill to protect our New Mexico citizens.”

“Every person should have the power to decide who they want to share personal, private information with. Privacy is not about keeping secrets, it is about exercising control over our own lives,” said ACLU-NM Policy Director Steven Robert Allen. “We’re grateful to Senator Wirth and Representative Dines for their efforts today, which affirms that privacy remains a core value in our state and throughout the United States of America.”

The bipartisan actions by the states, which highlight the strong and diverse nationwide support for legislation that empowers people to take control of their privacy, are mirrored by the results of a recent poll conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, which found that 90% of Americans believed (73% of them “strongly”) that the next president should make “protecting privacy so we have more control over our personal information” a policy priority.

The 16 states plus the District of Columbia putting forward privacy legislation today have the ability to impact nearly 100 million people, and they collectively account for 169 electoral votes.
 

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The multi-state effort is using the Twitter hashtag #TakeCTRL.