As has been found in the past, the fearless leaders of the state of New Mexico have a history of not exactly following the law at all times. They sometimes choose to ignore it; modify it; stretch it; or just flat out break it. That's been shown time & time again. One example of elected representatives ignoring it is with the recent Extreme Risk Protection Order, a "Red Flag Law", known as Senate Bill 5.
Back in 2015, the New Mexico legislature passed HB 560, Forfeiture Procedures and Reporting. This law bans civil asset forfeiture unless there's an accompanying crime. In other words, personal property like cars, houses, firearms, and more CANNOT be seized (confiscated) unless it is contraband involved with a crime.
According to the New Mexico State Treasurer's Office, one of the reasons for this relatively new law is "to protect against wrongful forfeiture and to ensure that only criminal forfeiture is allowed."
Senate Bill 5 seizes property without any meaningful attempt at providing due process for the accused.
Senate Bill 5 seizes property without a crime having been committed.
The Statute for the Forfeiture Act is 31-27-1.
Senate Bill 5 forces the accused to sell their firearms by way of entering the accused into the FBI's National Instant Check System (NICS). When and if the ERPO is removed from the accused's record, law enforcement is supposed to notify the FBI for the bad mark to be removed from the NICS, to allow the return of the guns to the legal owner. However, this law requires a background check of the legal owner through NICS before returning the firearms, which will most likely indicate that the owner is a prohibited person, denying them their firearms and any firearms in the future. To get anything, the owner must sell the guns to an Federal Firearms License holder.
So, it appears as if the Leftists Legislators in New Mexico are bound and determined to break the state's laws, even laws which they have made.
The City of Albuquerque continued with its civil asset forfeiture several years after the law was passed. In my blog post about a Lack of Ethics, I pointed out that two of Senate Bill 5's sponsors, Rep Daymon Ely and Sen Joe Cervantes are both personal injury lawyers. Sections of the bill allow for accusers to file suit for personal injury, medical costs, etc. The possibility exists that the two of them could reap financial benefit from this bill. Well, the City of Albuquerque seized the car of Arlene Harjo after her son borrowed it and was arrested for a DUI. Her case shows that while something may appear constitutional on its face, in actuality, if it provides improper financial incentives, it isn't.
The city was going to sell Harjo's car at auction for financial benefit. She filed suit and challenged that the program "generates revenue both through auctions and through settlement agreements whereby property owners agree to make monetary payments to avoid forfeiture of their vehicles." She alleged that the policy created a profit incentive. This bill sounds ripe for personal injury attorneys to make a profit.
The case wound up before District Court Judge, James O Browning, who found that Albuquerque's civil asset forfeiture law violated "procedural due process" as it forced hundreds of vehicle owners to prove their innocence, just like Senate Bill 5. He also found that it violated the 14th Amendment as it deprived Harjo of her property without due process, just like Senate Bill 5.
To quote Sir Walter Scott, "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"
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