Gonzales Manny_Final Letter_8-16-19

Ms. Cloud has enumerated the following list of litigation priorities supported by LJC’s board of directors, with problems related to parole being near the top.

• Litigation against the Parole Board for failure to release those convicted of sex offenses who have served their time because the parolee is unable to provide an acceptable address;
• Litigation to force New Mexico to provide probable cause hearings for those accused of technical violations of their supervision. Despite the fact that the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision mandates such hearings, our state has chosen to disregard this due process requirement;
• A Declaratory Judgment seeking credit for time on registration dating back to enactment of retroactive registration requirements;
• A Declaratory Judgment to strike down the blanket imposition of GPS monitoring as violative of due process without individualized determination of need for such monitoring;
• Litigation to strike various unconstitutional provisions of New Mexico’s Behavioral Contract, which everyone supervised as a sex offender must sign. We will be coordinating our efforts with other legal entities on items such as the ban on social media, employment notifications, and other portions that are being used subjectively to reincarcerate offenders.

Ms. Cloud stated, “I became so appalled at the constitutional violations for an entire class of underrepresented individuals that I could no longer in good conscience stand by and watch. There are so many issues that prioritizing which we undertake first will be my first order of business.

“Even though the official name for post-prison supervision is parole,” Ms. Cloud continued, “that label is totally misleading. There can be no question that the indeterminate period which follows incarceration in New Mexico is clearly a period of supervised release comparable to what occurs in the federal system. Our position is that only the court should have the power to revoke that period of supervised release and then only after the person has been afforded due process, which does include the right to counsel.”

“Ms. Cloud has been engaged in the practice of law for more than 25 years, and we are excited to have her join in the fight for justice and restoration of civil rights for a disenfranchised population,” says Brenda Jones, NARSOL’s executive director. Ms. Cloud recently was an assistant district attorney in the Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and she has been a prosecutor for almost her entire career.

LJC is now prepared to address some serious injustices facing New Mexico’s sex offender community and registrants because we now have funding to compensate our attorneys. We are preparing to launch our first lawsuit in the next 60 days. The lawsuit will seek to force the New Mexico Department of Public Safety (DPS) to provide a due process mechanism to those with non-New Mexico convictions. New Mexico law requires that an out-of-state conviction be “equivalent” to an offense on our list of registrable sex offenses. Despite this unambiguous language, the DPS has failed to provide a process, and we now have more than 500 in the category of “waiting for translation” listed on the website.

We have tentatively identified four areas of litigation:

1. A Declaratory Judgment seeking a due process mechanism for translation of out of state offenses by the Department of Public Safety;
2. Litigation to challenge the Parole Board for failing to release those who have served their time only because the parolee is unable to provide an acceptable address;
3. A Declaratory Judgment seeking credit for time on registration dating back to enactment of retroactive registration requirements;
4. A Declaratory Judgment to strike down the blanket imposition of GPS monitoring as violative of due process without individualized determination of need for such monitoring; and
5. A possible fifth case is the state’s failure to hold hearings as required by statute when the parolee has served five years of supervision.

We need your help to find the best possible plaintiffs for the first lawsuit. If your offense occurred in any state other than New Mexico, we will consider you as a possible plaintiff. The sole issue in the lawsuit is the lack of due process in making the equivalency determination. We will not be asking the court to determine whether or not the terms of registration are too harsh for a particular offense. Rather, we will be asking that the state be compelled to provide due process for making the determination. A proper determination of equivalency can be significant because: (1) the person’s out of state offense may not be registerable at all in New Mexico; or (2) the offense should be a 10-year registration period rather than lifetime. If you are interested in being considered, contact Larry via email at   libjusco.com@gmail.com. You may also call me, Rick, at 505 832-4291.

THANK YOU for Helping Us, Help Us All!

We are the only NARSOL affiliate that allows our supporters to determine who serves on the board of directors. At this point, you may bring the ballot with you and vote in person.

If you didn’t receive a ballot, then your membership may have expired or we unintentionally omitted you. Please visit our web site Libjusco.net to renew/join or if you have any questions, feel free to email at Libjusco.com@gmail

It is important that you return your ballot in the postage-paid envelope sent to the membership on March 2nd. At this point, we have only received approximately half of the ballots so please mail yours to us right away. You may also bring the ballot with you and vote in person if you prefer.

 If you didn’t receive a ballot then your membership has expired.  Please visit our web site Libjusco.net to renew/join or if you have any questions, feel free to email at Libjusco.com@gmail.com

Liberty & Justice Coalition

General Public Meeting

12/3/17

Liberty & Justice Coalition will be holding a Public General meeting on 12/3/17, at The UMN Law School Library 1117 Stanford Dr. NE, Alb.  Room # 2403,  from 2:00 till 4:00 pm.

Come join the conversation.   Any questions please call (505) 832-4291

Liberty & Justice Coalition 
December 3, 2017 @ 2:00 p.m.
UNM Law School Room 2403

Open Forum:

1. The meeting will be called to Order by Rick Dean followed by introduction of LJC board and guests.
2. Open Forum between members and board moderated by Rick Dean. This segment will last up to 30 minutes depending on attendance and each person can speak for no more than 5 minutes. 
3. LJC board meeting convenes after Open Forum or no later than 2:30.

Standing Reports: 

1. Treasurer’s Report;
2. Sex Offender Management Board;
3. 2018 Legislative Session;
4. Report of important legal cases; and
5. Update from NARSOL.
6. Update on National Conference

Old Business:

1. Approval of meeting minutes August 6, 2017; and
2. Plans for fundraising efforts and new member recruitment.

3.   Report on New Mexico litigation plans.

New Business:

1. Staffing of booth at State Capitol;
2. Hiring for membership and outreach person to make phone calls;
3. Holding LJC meetings in other cities;
4. Holding Conference calls.
5. Approve funding for new brochures with LJC logo; and
6. Approval of fundraising letter and commission for Robin.
7. Approval of funding for banner and placard card for display boards.

Executive Session:

1. Strategy for 2018 Legislative Session.
2. Funds available to pay for lobbing efforts.

Motion to adjourn

FOR LJC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  You are hereby notified that Liberty & Justice Coalition (LJC) will hold an important meeting on Sunday March 20, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in room 2403 of the UNM School of Law. The address is 1117 Stanford NE, Albuquerque.

The primary business of the meeting is the election of individuals to serve on the Board of Directors. All members in good standing who have paid their 2016 dues are eligible to vote. If you have not paid 2016 dues, you may do so now by clicking the Red “Join Now”  button. All members and donors will receive an election packet by mail with specially marked envelope for returning the ballot.

The election process is designed to keep your vote secret so please do not put your name or any identifying information on the ballot or the small envelope. After you have marked your ballot, please place it in the pre-addressed envelope and return to us right away. All ballots must be in our possession no later than Saturday March 19th to be counted at the meeting on Sunday. It is important that you use the envelope we provide to assure that your ballot is not opened until the meeting.

A short biography of each nominee will be included with the election packet. After reviewing each nominee, please mark your ballot with “accept” or “reject” by each person’s name. Any nominee receiving more votes to accept will be duly elected to serve a two-year term on the LJC board of directors.

If you have questions, please call Rick Dean at 505 832-4291.

Sincerely,

Rick Dean, Chair

LJC Board of Directors