Albuquerque (April 19, 2021) – This Friday, April 23, from 12 to 1:30 (MST), the National Police Accountability Project, with support from the University of New Mexico School of Law NLG Chapter, will host a discussion on the New Mexico Civil Rights Act (HB 4). A panel of speakers will provide an introduction to the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, which was signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 7, and discuss the impacts it will have on Civil Rights litigation in New Mexico. The event is open to the public and the press.

Discussion will include advocacy strategies for state level police accountability legislation and how the New Mexico law will help victims of government abuse pursue justice in state courts. Speakers will include both New Mexican activists who advocated for the bill’s passage, as well as those whose practice will be altered by the bill’s incorporation. The law takes effect on July 1, 2021.

The panelists are Judge Linda Vanzi, a former New Mexico Court of Appeals judge; Barron Jones, policy strategist with ACLU of New Mexico; Mark Baker, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico who served as Vice Chair of the New Mexico Civil Rights Panel which made policy recommendations that led to HB 4; and Frances Carpenter, a civil rights attorney and board member of the National Police Accountability Project.

New Mexico lawyers may be able to receive 1.5 Continuing Legal Education credits for attending. For more information and to register for the event, visit: http://bit.ly/nm-civil-rights