SANTE FE, N.M -- The 2018 legislative session starts tomorrow, and Gov. Susana Martinez said she plans to push legislation that would grant legal immunity to New Mexico police officers for actions in the line of duty.

The Republican governor said law enforcement officers should not face threats from lawsuits, but instead be shielded from them - provided they're adhering to training. Steven Allen, director of public policy for the New Mexico ACLU, said it's a puzzling proposal, because few police officers ever are convicted, despite public outrage.

"In Albuquerque specifically, it's been almost impossible to hold police officers accountable for excessively using force against citizens, in violation of our Constitution,” Allen said.

New Mexico's Legislature is currently controlled by Democrats, but Republicans plan to also push to reinstate the death penalty when state lawmakers convene.

State Representative Monica Youngblood, a Republican from Albuquerque, said she will file legislation proposing the death penalty be reinstated for murders involving children, police or correctional officers. New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009.

A fiscal analysis of a similar bill proposed in 2016 found that reinstating executions could cost the state more than $7 million a year. But heading into an election year and with New Mexico's violent crime rate now second in the nation, law-and-order is a likely hot button for the Legislature.

Allen said the ACLU opposed a death penalty bill in 2016, and will take the same position this year.

"Any attempt to reinstate the death penalty is a distraction and a waste of our time and certainly a waste of our money,” he said. "New Mexico has to do better than that."

During the 30-day session, lawmakers will also focus on how to increase spending on public education, Medicaid, public-safety agencies and economic-development incentives.


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Through this Saturday, Minnesota is recognizing Workplace Rights Week.

From COVID precautions to emerging technology, labor voices said there is key information some workers might not be aware of. Over the past year, Minnesota has phased in new laws such as earned sick-time requirements, which mandate one hour of fully paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.

Jeff Ambroz, director of development and communications for the Minnesota Training Partnership, said as COVID activity continues to circulate and with the cold and flu season almost here, workers should know the requirement is expansive.

"This isn't only sick time for yourself," Ambroz pointed out. "It's time that you can use to care for a sick family member, to get help if you are a victim of domestic abuse or stalking."

Workers are also encouraged to see if they can use their earned time for things such as vaccination appointments. Ambroz noted workplace environments are constantly changing with new equipment and technology. He recommended staff should maintain conversations among each other, elected officials and, if applicable, union representatives in the event such changes harm a workplace setting.

Over the summer, Minnesota also implemented a change to expand penalties and legal options in cases where a company misclassifies an employee as an independent contractor.

John Swanson, political coordinator for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 343, said these have long been pervasive issues, especially in the construction trades.

"(These are) some things that should be common sense," Swanson contended. "But we have to have laws now to protect people from being taken advantage of."

Labor leaders said a misclassified worker can miss out on things such as health coverage and overtime pay. Other misclassification provisions specifically dealing with the construction sector go into effect next March.


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A legal expert has issued a warning that artificial intelligence tools could lead to discriminatory practices in hiring and firing.

Algorithms and AI are increasingly used by businesses through Automated Employment Decision Tools.

But Hardeep Rekhi, partner at the Seattle law firm Rekhi & Wolk, said these tools can be programmed with data that can train them to be inherently biased.

He noted that Amazon, for example, developed one of these tools to review resumes - but had to abandon it in 2018 because it was eliminating female candidates.

"This tool is only as good as the data that it's being trained on," said Rekhi, "and if that data is tainted by individuals that have bias, I worry that the tool itself will be mis-trained."

Rekhi said it's also hard to know how AI is using data to make its decisions - and claimed these tools are essentially "black boxes" that could be discriminating against certain classes of people, without the user knowing.

Rekhi said there are ways to protect people against this. During this year's legislative session in Olympia, House Bill 1951 was introduced to prohibit "algorithmic discrimination" by automated tools.

The bill didn't pass, but Rekhi said it was on the right path.

"You have to put the onus on developers of the tool and users of the tool," said Rekhi, "to make sure that whatever tool they're using isn't discriminating, and that's what the Legislature has proposed."

Rekhi said automated tools for business decisions like hiring and firing threaten the many gains made in employment practices in recent decades.

"We've worked so hard, and we've made significant progress in the field of trying to eliminate discrimination in the workplace," said Rekhi, "and I don't want this to, kind of, undo that or to hide that."




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A schoolhouse in far West Texas has been designated as a unit of the U.S. National Park System.

The Blackwell School is a former de facto segregated school, built in 1909 and used until 1965 to educate Mexican and Mexican American children in Marfa. In 2006, the Marfa Independent School District planned to demolish the building but alumni of the school started a group to save the site and its memories.

Daniel Hernandez, president of the Blackwell School Alliance, said they fought to preserve history.

"It's just such a thrilling moment for the alliance and for the Marfa community," Hernandez explained. "I think also for so many of our alumni, this really is, I think, a moment that is really, really validating and tells a more complete history of American history, and ensure that these experiences are told in the way that they deserve to be."

The site consists of the original 1909 adobe schoolhouse and a smaller classroom built in 1927. The designation permanently protects the site and helps tell the story of Texas school districts creating segregated elementary schools for Mexican American children.

The school is open for tours on Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 4 p.m., and from 9 a.m. until noon on Mondays. Hernandez noted the hours will be extended thanks to financial support from the National Parks Board. His grandparents attended the Blackwell School and he stressed the project brought the community together.

"The museum that exists there, and all the artifacts and the repository of historical significance that exists there, is because of our alumni who donated their school records and their band twirler uniforms and their letterman jackets and photographs," Hernandez outlined.

The park was authorized by the Blackwell School National Historic Site Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2022.

Hernandez noted the building contains photographs, memorabilia and interpretive panels featuring quotes and stories from students and teachers.

"The breadth and depth of the American experience is so wide and so vast and sometimes the history books don't always reflect those experiences," Hernandez contended. "The Blackwell School, for so many Mexican Americans, they finally have this place that now stands as a manifestation of grassroots work where history is going to be examined and interpreted."


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