Latest news with #DavidK.Thomson
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
New Mexico Supreme Court reverses Whistleblower Protection ruling
Supreme Court of New Mexico: (from left) Justice Julie J. Vargas, Justice Michael E. Vigil, Chief Justice David K. Thomson, Justice C. Shannon Bacon, and Justice Briana H. Zamora. (Photo courtesy of the Supreme Court.) The state Supreme Court on Thursday issued a unanimous opinion it says reconciles conflicting rulings by the Court of Appeals regarding the state's Whistleblower Protection Act. Specifically, the new opinion says for a public employee to receive protection under the act, disclosures about wrong or illegal actions by a public employer must benefit the public in some way. While case law is 'sparse' regarding the Whistleblower Protection Act, the opinion says, the Appeals Court decision in the case of corrections officer Manuel Lerma conflicted with one of its earlier rulings, the state Supreme Court said, and too narrowly interpreted the law. Lerna, who had 16 years' experience with the New Mexico Corrections Department, transferred to a new facility where he guarded the prison's sally port and ensured, as 'safety protocol' that one side of the dual-gate system remained closed when the other was open. dual-gate system was to have one gate closed when opening the other gate as a 'safety protocol.' Lerna's 'strict' enforcement of this protocol led to 'disagreement' between him and other transportation division corrections officers, who wanted him to leave both gates open 'at the same time…so they could come and go as they pleased.' Lerna alleges that 'one day while he was driving home from the prison, his vehicle 'kept [being] block[ed]' when it was sandwiched between two vehicles, each driven by a DOC employee, causing him to pull his vehicle over and stop in an empty lot. Plaintiff, 'fearing for [his] life,' was beaten by a fellow corrections officer. A prison supervisory lieutenant filmed the altercation using his agency-issued cell phone.' Lerna reported both the pushback on the protocol and the violent episode, and Corrections cited and disciplined two people involved for what the department acknowledged as 'egregious conduct.' Lerna, however, contends he was reassigned after disclosing as retaliation. He subsequently filed a lawsuit citing violations of whistleblower protections, which a district court dismissed in response to Corrections Department arguments that Lerma's grievances were personal and not covered by the act. Lerma challenged the district court's summary judgement against him and the Appeals Court ruled in his favor, saying his grievances did not have to be for the benefit of the public. This, the state Supreme Court said in its opinion today, is incorrect. 'A public employee's disclosure of illegality or wrongdoing qualifies for protected whistleblower status, if otherwise eligible, so long as the disclosure confers a benefit on the public, irrespective of which benefit – public or personal – may be said to predominate,' the opinion written by Chief Justice David K. Thomson said. The court returned the case to the Appeals Court to decide if Lerma qualifies for whistleblower protection under that standard of public benefit.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Administrative Office of the Courts launches behavior health treatment program
The state Administrative Office of the Courts announced a new program involving court-ordered behavioral health treatment will begin this week for Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. The "assisted outpatient treatment" program will allow family members, behavioral health providers and others to request a court order that requires "qualifying individuals" to receive "community-based treatment" for mental health disorders, a news release from the agency states. The criteria for assisted outpatient treatment are laid out in state law, including a diagnosis of a mental disorder and a lack of willingness to receive treatment. Other requirements include someone being jailed or hospitalized twice over a four-year period in relation to their mental illness, or acts of "serious violent behavior" toward themselves or others. Outpatient treatment will be provided by the Santa Fe-based provider The Life Link. The program aims to "help people who repeatedly have been hospitalized or jailed because they do not participate in treatment on a voluntary basis and as a result exhibit violent behavior or threaten harm to themselves or others," the release says. An event is planned Friday morning for court officials and providers to explain more about how the program will work. The provider will be expected to create a behavioral health treatment plan for each participant. The court will lead a team, including the courts' program manager and the behavioral health provider, to help people obtain treatment and possibly other services, such as housing and food assistance. The statement also says the court will "hold the program participant and the behavioral health provider accountable to help ensure the participant adheres to the treatment plan." Work on the program began in the state capital after the Legislature allocated $3 million for two pilot assisted outpatient treatment programs, one of them in the First Judicial District based in Santa Fe. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called for reforms around involuntary commitments in New Mexico as well as to criminal competency laws in an effort to get more people into behavioral health treatment. Some advocates have spoken against such plans to expand involuntary treatment through the criminal legal system. While lawmakers during last year's special session rejected the governor's agenda, they did appropriate funding for the assisted outpatient treatment program. "Assisted Outpatient Treatment bridges a gap in available assistance for people struggling with mental illness," Chief Justice David K. Thomson said in the release. "People with untreated behavioral health disorders are likely to cycle through jails, courts, and hospital emergency rooms without the intervention they need to prevent their condition from worsening."
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Yahoo
New Mexico Courts sending bilingual postcards to notify people of jury duty
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – If you are selected for jury duty in New Mexico, you will be getting a different kind of notification in the mail. Starting next week, the Judiciary will begin mailing postcards to notify people when they have been ordered to jury duty by one of New Mexico's district or magistrate courts or the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. Story continues below Crime: 4 teen suspects in deadly attempted robbery in Albuquerque to stay in jail Weird: Española mayor drops shopping carts in a city hall parking spot causing controversy Health: Two measles cases identified near New Mexico's southeast border Podcast: What's Behind The Dip In Fentanyl Overdose Deaths? 'We want to alert New Mexicans about the new look for the official jury summons because courts for decades have mailed letters in envelopes to inform people about jury duty,' said Chief Justice David K. Thomson in a news release. 'We have embraced technology to add convenient online features to the postcard summons to help people with their jury service.' The summons features a QR code that can be scanned with a mobile phone camera, allowing people to access an online portal to complete a required questionnaire or request a postponement or excusal from jury service. People ordered to jury duty must complete their online questionnaire within 10 days of receiving a summons. In addition to the new QR code, the postcard summons lists a website address for people who want to use a web browser to link to the questionnaire and other information about jury duty. Switching to the postcard jury summons is estimated to save about $36,000 a year in paper and postage costs, according to the courts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
