The New Mexico Supreme Court on Nov. 20, 2023 in Santa Fe. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health orders from the fall of 2023, rejecting an attempt by Republican state lawmakers and gun groups to limit her power to declare public health emergencies.
Lujan Grisham and then-Health Secretary Patrick Allen issued three executive orders that declared gun violence and drug use to be public health emergencies.
The gun restrictions quickly faced numerous legal challenges and a federal court blocked them within a week. The next day, Allen amended the orders to drastically reduce them.
Still, the following day, a coalition of 39 current and former Republican state lawmakers; gun owners and dealers in Bernalillo County; the state Republican and Libertarian parties; retired police officers; and a national advocacy group asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to overturn the orders.
The governor’s orders also suspended the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative program, a juvenile justice reform initiative within the Children Youth and Families Department that includes risk assessment for young people referred to incarceration.
In a split decision published on Thursday, the justices ruled that while Lujan Grisham’s orders were lawful and constitutional, the suspension of JDAI exceeded her authority.
They concluded that gun violence and substance use disorder are legitimate issues for the state government to try to address using its “police power,” meaning its authority to preserve and promote public health and safety, but said Lujan Grisham had failed to explain how suspending the JDAI had anything to do with reducing gun violence or substance use disorder, and wrote they will “bar its enforcement pursuant to the emergency orders.”
Even though the governor’s orders expired on Oct. 14, 2024, the justices wrote that the case involves “matters of great public importance” that could come up again under any future governor.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the governor responded via email that a comment would be forthcoming. Source will update this story as needed.
A spokesperson for the Senate Republican Leadership Office declined to comment on the ruling and forwarded Source NM’s inquiry to the Republican Party of New Mexico, which said in a news release the ruling “sets a dangerous precedent” as the Legislature debates new gun rights legislation.
“The Court’s majority rubber-stamped the Governor’s expansive interpretation of the Public Health Emergency Response Act (PHERA), granting her near-unlimited power to declare emergencies and impose restrictions on New Mexicans’ freedoms,” the release said.
The GOP news release also noted the dissenting opinions by Justices Michael Vigil and Briana Zamora.
Vigil wrote that the majority’s analysis of the law “leaves it totally in the discretion of any governor to assume sweeping emergency powers for any reason the governor chooses.”
“The unconstrained exercise of emergency executive powers the majority has approved in this instance could readily be misused,” Zamora wrote.
Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela in a statement called the dissents “courageous” and said they “confirm what Republicans have been saying all along: Democrats are setting the stage to go even further to threaten every New Mexican’s constitutional freedoms.”
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