New Mexico
Some New Mexico attorneys stop taking public defense work due to ‘funding crisis’
This article was published by Source New Mexico. To read more visit sourcenm.org.
Private attorneys representing people who otherwise can’t afford a legal defense in federal courts in New Mexico are working for free because the public program that pays them — and private federal defenders across the country — ran out of money at the start of July.
In interviews this week, private defense attorneys told Source NM the lack of pay is especially urgent in Southern New Mexico because of the massive volume of cases being prosecuted by the U.S. government as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, specifically the newly created military buffer zone along New Mexico’s border with Mexico.
The funding crisis has raised concerns in the federal judiciary about providing adequate and legally mandated representation to defendants who can’t afford an attorney — approximately 90% of all defendants in federal court, according to a United States Courts news release on Tuesday. Federal defender organizations handle approximately 60% of such cases, while private attorneys who agree and are qualified to serve on a state-level Criminal Justice Act panel take on the rest.
Funding for those panels, however, ran out July 3, after Congress in March froze all judicial branch funding at last year’s levels as part of its continuing budget resolution.
In New Mexico, some private defense attorneys have stopped taking cases until funding resumes, Ryan Villa, the CJA panel representative for the District of New Mexico, told Source NM.
If more lawyers start turning down CJA appointments, then it is unclear who will represent those people, Villa said.
This places at risk the “fundamental right” of a person facing criminal charges “to effective counsel regardless of the defendant’s economic status,” Judge Amy St. Eve, chair of the national Judicial Conference’s Budget Committee, said in a statement.
St. Eve’s statement also notes that the attorneys won’t be paid until Oct. 1 “for the work they have done and for the work that we continue to ask them to do, unless the Judiciary receives supplemental funding from Congress before then.”
Cori Harbour, an El Paso-based attorney who also works as a private federal defender on the New Mexico CJA panel’s Las Cruces division, told Source she had to stop taking on new cases in the Western District of Texas, and has pivoted to find other kinds of legal work in order to pay her staff. She said next week, she will have to decide whether to continue taking cases in the District of New Mexico.
There are 73 lawyers on the Albuquerque division of the CJA panel in New Mexico, and 29 private attorneys who are on the CJA panel’s Las Cruces division, according to court records. There are approximately 12,000 CJA attorneys across the country, Villa said.
In addition to their own billing, defense attorneys also have to pay out experts such as paralegals, investigators, language interpreters, social workers, mitigation specialists and forensic psychologists.
Such experts have asked attorneys to delay their cases because they can’t sustain working trials without being paid, Villa said. Harbour confirmed her investigator has had to turn down unpaid CJA jobs and instead look for other income sources.
Moreover, the Las Cruces court has seen a surge of defendants being charged under the federal government’s new criminal trespassing laws for entering the so-called National Defense Area on New Mexico’s border.
Those additional military trespass charges come on top of the unlawful entry charges brought against migrants before the buffer zone existed, Harbour said, creating more work for the defense.
“The case numbers have been astronomical because they are prosecuting everything,” Harbour said. “There’s just no way for us to handle the number of cases that are coming in, and then to expect us to do it now without compensation is just a lot.”
Harbour said she has 71 open CJA cases, her largest caseload ever in her 20-year career. Almost all of her cases require an interpreter, usually for Spanish, she said, which is yet another expense no longer covered.
Federal public defenders can’t step in because they are already understaffed and overworked, and have been under a hiring freeze for 17 of the past 24 months because of tight budgets from Congress, according to the judiciary’s news release.
Margaret Katze, federal public defender for the District of New Mexico, told Source NM it is “more than unfair” to expect attorneys to work for almost three months without getting paid for that work.
“It is a terribly difficult situation,” Katze said in an emailed statement. “The federal defense function, one that is critical to the justice system, must be appropriately funded. People do this work because they believe that it is important that people accused of crimes in federal court, who cannot afford to hire attorneys, deserve equally strong representation.”
Austin Fisher is a journalist based in Santa Fe.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Republican candidate for governor Duke Rodriguez is suing Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham over her executive order that started universal free child care before a new law takes effect.
The governor enacted the program through executive order in November.
Lawmakers passed a universal child care law during the past session, but that law does not take effect until May 20.
Rodriguez says he objects to some of the rules and to how the governor started the program. The suit asks the Second Judicial District Court to prohibit further enforcement of any regulations tied to the program.
“You could understand an outgoing governor trying to do it for political capital, for expediency just to say, I’m first in the nation.” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez says he is confident he will win and that the rules he is challenging will be struck down.
“We also now have what we call pre emptive eligibility, which means you don’t even have to prove you’re eligible and you’re covered the moment you walk in,” Rodriguez said. “All of those things individually and collectively that have been proposed and changed probably invite fraud, waste and abuse and you know it.”
The governor’s office responds
The governor’s office sent a statement saying the program was properly implemented and that the governor is confident the lawsuit will be rejected.
A spokesperson for the governor sent KOB 4 the following statement:
“This lawsuit makes clear that Mr. Rodriguez has a fundamental misunderstanding how state government works. He states that ECECD did not have the authority to undergo rulemaking regarding universal childcare. They do. He states that ECECD did not have the funding to implement the program when they did their rulemaking. They did. That is why the program was operational in December – before the 2026 Legislative session started. Perhaps more importantly, the lawsuit ignores that the legislature passed SB 241, which codified the program and its future funding into law. The governor is confident that the courts will reject his meritless claims.“
Woody is up for adoption with the City of Albuquerque’s Animal Welfare Department. Meet him here!
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In this Love 4 Pets, we have Woody, Zwei and Kanai, who are all up for adoption at the City of Albuquerque’s shelters.
Woody is looking for a loving home after going through the ringer. He came to Albuquerque Animal Welfare about a month ago after he was hit by a car. He’s healing from some pelvic fractures and is moving slowly so he can hang out in the backyard and go for short walks.
Woody is very smart and can sleep all night. They believe he is about nine years old and is believed to be a Lab mix. He’s very sweet and is house-trained.
Woody is set to be 100% ready soon. You can meet him in the video above or at the Eastside Animal Shelter (details).
We also have Zwei and Kenai.
Zwei:
An Australian Shepherd mix, Zwei is a little tripod who is a great companion, has wonderful manners and loves to lean into you for hugs. She walks beautifully on a leash and doesn’t miss a beat, even with only three legs.
Zwei is currently in foster care. If you are interested in adopting her, contact Albuquerque Animal Welfare to set up a time to visit her.
Kenai:
Kenai is a Labrador retriever mix. He is a friendly, affectionate boy who enjoys being around people and has good manners. He walks well on a leash and is very excited about exploring the world.
Kenai loves attention, toys (especially stuffed animals) and car rides. So, if you’re looking for an adventure buddy, you can meet him at the Westside Animal Shelter (details).
Grant’s Monday Night Forecast
A few evaporating rain showers are possible again Tuesday with warmer temperatures. Windier weather later this week will bring a high fire danger back to New Mexico.
It’s been a warm day with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms across central and northern New Mexico. Some of that rain has made it to the ground, while other showers have evaporated before reaching the surface. Temperatures have climbed into the 70s and 80s for most of the state. Showers will fade after sunset, with mostly clear skies overnight and mild temperatures.
Even warmer weather is on the way Tuesday with lighter winds. More areas will reach the 80s by the afternoon. A few spotty showers will develop again, especially near the mountains, with some of that rain evaporating before reaching the ground.
Winds pick up Wednesday afternoon, with gusts between 25 and 45 mph. This will begin another stretch of high fire danger across the state. The strongest winds arrive Thursday, with westerly gusts of 35 to 55 mph. That will expand the fire danger statewide. A dry cold front will move through Thursday as well, but temperatures will only drop slightly, ending up closer to average.
Breezy conditions continue Friday through the weekend as the jet stream pulls more moisture into New Mexico. That will bring increasing chances for rain and thunderstorms this weekend, with a few lingering into early next week.
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