National Roundup

New Mexico
Bill on civil rights lawsuits passed by State House
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Legislators in the New Mexico House of Representatives endorsed reforms to rein in police immunity from prosecution, voting 39-29 on Tuesday in favor of a bill that allows civil rights lawsuits in state court against a variety of local government agencies.

The bill from Democrats including state House Speaker Brian Egolf of Santa Fe and Rep. Georgene Louis, a tribal member of Acoma Pueblo, now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

The bill, titled the “New Mexico Civil Rights Act,” builds on recommendations from a commission chartered last year by the Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham amid nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice.

In response to financial concerns voiced by local governments, sponsors amended the original bill to cap liability for damages at $2 million. Liability would apply only to agencies and not individual public employees.
The bill raises the stakes on legal claims that are currently capped at about $1 million under state tort law.

“This bill to me goes to the heart of restoring trust,” said state Rep. Javier Martínez of Albuquerque. “This isn’t an anti-police bill.”

The House vote fell along largely partisan lines with Republicans voting in opposition, joined by a handful of Democrats, including Reps. Derrick Lente of Albuquerque, Ambrose Castellano of Serrafina and Susan Herrera of Embudo.

Prospects for approval in the state Senate are uncertain amid opposition by local governments, school boards and police associations.

State Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces is a co-sponsor. Last year he successfully ushered through the Legislature a red-flag gun law that can be used to remove firearms from people who pose a danger to themselves or others.

New York
Epstein ex-girl-friend alleges abuse by guard in federal jail
NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend claimed through her lawyer Tuesday that a guard physically abused her at a federal lockup in Brooklyn, and then she was punished for complaining about it.

Attorney Bobbi Sternheim wrote in a letter to a Manhattan federal judge that the abuse occurred recently at the Metropolitan Detention Center as Ghislaine Maxwell was undergoing a pat down search in her isolation cell.

The lawyer said the British socialite asked that a camera be used to capture what was occurring, but a guard “replied ‘no.’”

“When Ms. Maxwell recoiled in pain and when she said she would report the mistreatment, she was threatened with disciplinary action,” Sternheim said.

Days later, Maxwell was retaliated against for reporting the abuse when a guard ordered her into a shower to clean, sanitize, and scrub the walls with a broom, the lawyer said. She added that Maxwell was denied a request that the encounter with the guard in the tight space be recorded.

A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment. A message seeking comment was sent to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Maxwell, 59, is awaiting a July trial on charges that she recruited three teenage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse in the 1990s and committed perjury during 2016 depositions in a civil case. She has pleaded not guilty.

She has remained incarcerated without bail since July, when she was arrested almost exactly a year after Epstein was arrested to face sex trafficking charges. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail a month after his arrest.

In late December, a judge rejected a $28.5 million bail proposal for Maxwell, saying she was a risk to flee and was not forthcoming with authorities about her finances after her arrest.

As part of the bail proposal, lawyers said Maxwell had about $22.5 million in assets with her husband and had set aside over $7 million for her defense.

In Tuesday’s letter, Sternheim repeated assertions made before that Maxwell is being subjected to onerous conditions that include repeated searches and being awakened every 15 minutes by a light flashed into her cell when she sleeps. The lawyer said the prison is reacting to Epstein’s suicide.

Sternheim said Maxwell has been physically searched approximately 1,400 times in the last seven months and no contraband has ever been found despite hundreds of physical searches of the cell where she lives alone as well as her locker, legal papers, and personal effects.

She said her client is under 24-hour surveillance by two-to-six guards and approximately 18 cameras, not including a hand-held camera trained on her when she is moved outside the cell.

Meanwhile, harsh treatment that includes food so poorly prepared that it sometimes cannot be eaten has taken a toll, the lawyer said.

“She is withering to a shell of her former self — losing weight, losing hair, and losing her ability to concentrate,” Sternheim wrote. “In addition to the many difficulties impacting her review of electronic discovery materials, the over-management and stress are impacting her stamina and effectiveness in preparing her defense and conferring with counsel.”


Colorado
State high court asks for help with independent investigation
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court has asked other branches of state government to help launch an investigation into allegations of sexual discrimination and harassment in the Colorado Judicial Department and whether a contract was given to a former employee to prevent her from revealing them.

Members of the Governor’s Office, Attorney General’s Office and the Legislature will name independent investigators to look into the allegations, the court said in a press release Tuesday.

Chief Justice Brian Boatright plans to comment more when he delivers the biennial State of the Judiciary speech on Thursday, the court said.

“We’re disappointed and absolutely heartbroken by this situation, and nobody wants these investigations to go forward more than I do,” Boatright said in the release.

Former state Court Administrator Chris Ryan has told The Denver Post that the judicial training contract worth at least $2.5 million that he signed was aimed at stopping former judicial department Chief of Staff Mindy Masias from filing a lawsuit that would expose sexual misconduct she knew of during her 20-year career. The contract was later cancelled.

Ryan told the newspaper that he welcomes the investigation.

Masias could not be located for comment. A telephone number listed for her was no longer working.