New Mexico’s legal climate needs work

At the Rio Grande Foundation, we’ve focused on economic and education policies that we believe hold New Mexico back from prosperity. There is another issue out there that, unfortunately, holds New Mexico back. It is our legal system.

We’ve seen cases over the years that New Mexico’s Courts have handed down with negative impacts on individual freedom and property rights. George Will explained one such decision recently in his nationally-syndicated column. There was, of course, the Supreme Court’s decision to ignore glaring mistakes in putting a minimum wage ballot measure on the ballots in Albuquerque. And, there is the infamous baseball decision which could lead to a dramatically-curtailed experience at Isotopes Park.

What does this all mean? According to the Institute for Legal Reform, New Mexico has the 44th-best legal climate in the nation. Interestingly-enough, our ranking for “judicial competence” is an astonishing 47th.

New Mexico has a bunch of judges on the ballot in November. It is important that voters educate themselves on these candidates and elect judges that adhere to the rule of law, not emotions and a general urge to generate their preferred outcomes in their judicial decisions.

HT: Rep. Dennis Kintigh