- STATE COURT SYSTEM-FUNDING
Lawmakers asked to boost spending on New Mexico court system(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Barbara Vigil is asking legislators to boost spending on the state court system.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Vigil joined other court officials Friday in Santa Fe to request an 8.9% increase in appropriations from the state's general fund.
Vigil says the money would be used to hire five new district judges, expand pretrial services that supervise defendants awaiting trial and improve security, especially for magistrate courts.
If the request is approved, the judiciary will receive about $199 million in the fiscal year that begins in July.
It's part of a broader state budget expected to exceed $7 billion.
Two of the five new judges would be stationed in Albuquerque, and the other three would be based in Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Alamogordo.
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- PRISONER TRANSPORT-SEX ASSAULT
Prisoner transport officer sentenced for sexual misconduct(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a former private prisoner transport officer to two years in prison after sexually assaulting a woman in his custody.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Friday that 51-year-old James Baldinger of Minnesota was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Albuquerque for inappropriately touching a restrained woman without her consent.
Prosecutors say Baldinger was working for Prisoner Transportation Services of America in July 2017 when he touched the woman while taking her from Kentucky to Bernalillo County on an out-of-state warrant.
U.S. Attorney John Anderson says Baldinger "committed a grievous violation of the public trust" by using his law enforcement authority over the woman.
Anderson says the plea shows the U.S. Attorney's Office will hold people who violate inmates' rights accountable.
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- OIL BOOM-POLITICS
New Mexicans wary of candidates' proposed drilling bans(Information from: Carlsbad Current-Argus, http://www.currentargus.com/)
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Democrat front-runners for the party's presidential nomination have promised to ban oil and gas leasing on federal lands if elected.
The Carlsbad Current Argus reports that has caused some concerns in New Mexico, where the industry was credited for billion-dollar budget surpluses in recent years. Much of the revenue has been funneled to educational initiatives.
U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small is a Democrat who represents an area of New Mexico that includes one of the most prolific energy basins in the United States.
She says shutting down drilling in New Mexico today would mean shutting down schools tomorrow.
Torres Small says she opposes a full ban on oil and gas activities, instead advocating for energy production to be done responsibly while minimizing environmental harm.
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- ASYLUM-GLOBAL CRACKDOWN
US joins in global movement to make asylum harder to obtainTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The U.S. has sent a Honduran migrant back to Guatemala in a move that marked a new phase of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
Asylum was once an afterthought in American immigration policy. But it has taken center stage as Trump aligns the U.S. with the European Union and other wealthy nations that are making it increasingly hard to obtain.
Thursday's flight marked the first time the U.S. sent an asylum-seeker back to Guatemala under a new policy. It forbids anyone who travels through another country to the U.S.-Mexico border from applying for asylum there.
The man had an option to file an asylum claim in Guatemala, but he decided against it and returned to Honduras.
Trump has called asylum "a scam" and declared that the U.S. is "full."
- BOY SCOUT RANCH
Boy Scouts mortgage vast New Mexico ranch as collateralOne of the most spectacular properties owned by the Boy Scouts of America is being been mortgaged to help secure the youth organization's line of credit.
The Boy Scouts say there is no plan to sell the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It is being used as collateral to help meet financial needs that include rising insurance costs related to sex-abuse litigation.
The move dismayed a member of Philmont's oversight committee, who says it violates agreements made when the land was donated in 1938. The BSA disputed his assertion.
The mortgage document was signed by top Boy Scout officials in March. But members of the Philmont Ranch Committee only recently learned of the development.
The ranch is a popular destination for hiking and camping trips.