NM Supremes Rule Same Sex Marriage is a Constitutional Right

UPDATED BELOW With comment from the governor

NM Supreme Court hears case in October

Most observers, even opponents of same sex marriage, predicted this would happen, but this morning the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that same sex couples have the same right to get married as anyone.

Justice Edward Chavez wrote in the court’s opinion that while none of New Mexico’s marriage statutes specifically prohibits same-gender marriages, existing state laws have had the effect of prohibiting same-gender couples from civil marriage.

“Because same-gender couples … are a discrete group which has been subjected to a history of discrimination and violence, and which has inadequate political power to protect itself from such treatment, the classification at issue must withstand intermediate scrutiny to be constitutional. Accordingly, New Mexico may neither constitutionally deny same-gender couples the right to marry nor deprive them of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of marriage laws, unless the proponents of the legislation — the opponents of same-gender marriage — prove that the discrimination caused by the legislation is substantially related to an important government interest.”

The national Human Rights Campaign said in a news release, "With lesbian and gay couples having married over the past several months in many New Mexico counties, today the state Supreme Court ruled to allow same-sex couples throughout the state to continue making lifelong commitments through marriage.  This makes New Mexico the first state in the Southwest with marriage equality and the 17th state nationwide."

Update: 3:30 pm Governor Susana Martinez's office just sent me this statement from the governor about the decision:

 “My personal views on this issue are well-known, and I’m confident that most New Mexicans believe, like I do, that it should have been settled by a vote of the people. Instead, the Supreme Court stepped in and rendered their decision. While there will surely be intense debate about this decision moving forward, I encourage New Mexicans to continue to respect one another in their discourse, as this is an important issue for many New Mexicans on both sides. As we move forward, I am hopeful that we will not be divided, as we must come together to tackle very pressing issues, like reforming education and growing our economy, in the weeks and months ahead.”

There will be more on this in tomorrow's New Mexican.

The complete decision is below:

NM Supreme Court Decision on Marriage Equality by Steve Terrell

McWilliams Resigns from Human Services

Diana McWilliams, acting director of the Behavioral Health Services Division and acting CEO of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Collaborative, has resigned.

She told me last night that she's taken a job in Philadelphia to head a non-profit agency dealing in behavioral health and child welfare.

My story in this morning's New Mexican is HERE.

Her resgination letter is below.

McWilliams Resignation Letter by Steve Terrell

Wirth Pre-files Some Familiar Bills

The Legislature's web site now has the (growing) list of pre-filed bills. The first day of pre-filing was yesterday.

Wirth speaking in Rotunda during a previous session

Among the first batch are a couple of bills from Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, that repeatedly have failed in past sessions. That's not a knock on the senator. Sometimes it takes years for a bill to squeeze through.

There's Wirth's texting while driving bill, (Senate Bill 19) which died a lonesome death on the Senate calendar, where it stayed for weeks and weeks this year. (I recently wrote about that issue.)

Then there's SB 18, Wirth's bill that would require independent expenditure groups to disclose their contributors. Several times this bill has passed the Senate with unanimous or near-unanimous bi-partisan support, only to get lost in the maze of the House of Representatives before getting a vote. Someone over there just doesn't want this to pass.

Both the texting and the campaign finance bill would have to be on the governor's call in order to be discussed during the upcoming 30-day budget session, which starts Jan. 21

Wirth also has a bill, SB 17, which would require out-of-state "unitary corporate banks" to file combined state income tax returns. This year Wirth finally got the governor to sign his "combined reporting" bill for large retail stores. It was part of the big tax bill that passed in the closing moments of the Legislature. That one, which was kicked around in the Legislature for years, is a good example of Wirth's persistence paying off.

I did a story in Tuesday's paper about Think New Mexico's job bills getting pre-filed. You can find that HERE.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Expect to See More Activity by Social Welfare Groups in NM Politics

The murky world of “social welfare” organizations with a political bent was in the news here last week. First, State Democratic Party Chairman Sam Bregman filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against an entity known as New Mexico Competes, claiming it was illegally coordinating with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

But there will be others competing with New Mexico Competes during the upcoming political season.

But the Dem-friendly New Mexico Prosperity won't be among them.

See more in my Sunday column HERE.

Bamboozled with Skuldugery

The New Mexican looks for a "Quote of the Day" during legislative sessions. We don't do that for interim committee meetings, but if we did, yesterday would have provided a doozy.

At yesterday's Legislative Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, perked up everyone's ears when he accused the state Human Services Department of "skulduggery."

 “I’m more confused, baffled and bamboozled today more than any time in the past several months. This is the greatest extent of skulduggery I’ve witnessed in decades.”

Special props to the senator for fitting "bamboozled" and "skulduggery" into one sentence. I was just disappointed that he didn't call anyone a "rapscallion" or "ne'r-do-well." Or perhaps talk about "dastardly deeds" and the dastards who commit them.

I looked up "skulduggery on World Wide Words, and it turns out it's hardly the first time it's been used in the context of state politics:

This means underhand or unscrupulous behaviour or trickery. ... The first recorded instance appeared in 1867 in Beyond the Mississippi by Albert D Richardson: “From Minnesota had been imported the mysterious term ‘scull-duggery’, used to signify political or other trickery”. ...

The word was still mysterious a few years later. One of its very early sightings is in this splendid political exchange, which I have gleaned from the Official Report of the Proceedings and Debates of the Third Constitutional Convention of Ohio, 1873-1874:
Mr. WEST. It is urged upon the assumption that there has been what some gentlemen here have characterized as “smouzling”.
Mr. HOADLY. What is that?
Mr. WEST. Skulduggery.
Mr. HOADLY. Well, what does that mean?
Mr. WEST. I do not know what it means, but that is what I heard talked about here.

I think Mr. Hoadly was bamboozled.

My story about yesterday's LFC meeting and a scathing report on the behavioral health situation that prompted Cisneros' remark is HERE.

Gary Johnson: Super PAC Man

Former Gov. Gary Johnson, a former Republican now titular head of the Libertarian Party, has started a new Super PAC aimed at helping "Liberty-minded" candidates across the land.

It's called Our America PAC and is set up as a 527 political organization, which plans to support candidates through independent expenditures.

In a news release this morning, Johnson said, “From the realities of government-run healthcare setting in to the continuing disclosures of the breadth of NSA’s domestic spying, more Americans than ever are ready to take a serious look at candidates who offer real alternatives to business-as-usual.

"However, the reality of our political system is that voters must first have the opportunity to learn about those candidates and their plans for smaller government and greater freedom.  That is the purpose of the Our America PAC.  Through independent efforts and funding in support of credible, qualified candidates, we plan to help put liberty on the ballot in a meaningful and competitive way."

Johnson added, “Voters deserve real choices beyond varying shades of big government, and helping provide those choices is our goal. We intend to make a real difference in the upcoming 2014 elections.”

There are things for both Democrats and Republicans to love -- and hate -- about the issues Johnson is pushing. Liberals can love the libertarian stances on marriage equality, legalizing marijuana and downsizing the military, while conservatives can embrace significant cuts to government spending, repealing Obamacare and opposition to gun control.

The trick, of course, is finding those who want both gay marriage and big cuts to government programs, drug legalization and no gun control, etc.

Our America PAC is not to be confused with the Our America Initiative, Johnson's 501(c)(4), which is an issue advocacy group.

Honorary board members of Our America Initiative include Johnson's 2012 running mate, retired California judge Jim Gray, Barry Goldwater, Jr., son of the late Arizona senator and 1964 GOP presidential nominee, Whole Foods co-founder & co-CEO John Mackey, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer who ran as a moderate Republican for the GOP nomination last year, and Alex McCobin, president of Students for Liberty.

There are several state organizations for Our America PAC, though none yet for New Mexico.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP:Richardson and his Pals on the Right

Former Gov. Bill Richardson, in an interview with Newsmax last week, admitted that he’d “screwed up” in trying to negotiate a hostage release in Cuba a few years ago.
There are a couple of things about this that are pretty amazing:

• Bill Richardson admitted that he’d made a serious mistake. That never comes easy to any politician.

• Bill Richardson gave an interview to Newsmax, one of the most conservative online news sites out there. ...

But maybe I shouldn't be surprised about that last one. Richardson actually had pretty good relations with some national conservative media figures and entertainers throughout most of his administration.

For more, see the full version on the Santa Fe New Mexican website,