House votes to approve New Mexico Civil Rights Act

Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Feb. 16—The House of Representatives voted 39-29 to approve a bill that will allow New Mexicans to sue governmental agencies in state District Court for perceived infringements of their constitutional rights.

House Bill 4, which would create the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, next goes to the Senate for consideration.

The bill would prohibit "qualified immunity" as a defense to legal claims filed against government agencies. Qualified immunity can shield law enforcement officers from being held personally liable for actions that are found to violate a person's constitutional rights.

The bill provides a three-year statute of limitations on such court actions and allows plaintiffs to ask for compensatory, but not punitive, damages.

Currently citizens can file civil rights violation charges in federal court, but not state district court.

Tuesday's vote did not fall totally along party lines. Five Democrats and one Independent joined House Republicans in opposing the bill.

The legislation "has been a long time coming," said Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, who supported the bill, during Tuesday's debate.

He said the story of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, has stirred the country to come to grips with the lack of trust between community members and members of law enforcement.

But, he said, the bill is not "anti-police officer legislation." He and other lawmakers said it will also curb offenses in such state agencies as the public education and corrections systems.

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