New Mexico Supreme Court

From Judgepedia

New Mexico Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	5
Location:	Santa Fe, New Mexico
Judicial selection
Method:	Partisan election of judges
Term:	8 years
Active justices
Edward Chavez  •  Patricio Serna  •  Charles Daniels  •  Petra Jimenez Maes  •  Richard Bosson  •
Former justices

The New Mexico Supreme Court is the state's highest court and final court of review (court of last resort). The court is composed of five justices; four associate justices and one Chief Justice.

Justices

See State Supreme Court justices.

Chief justice

Charles Daniels is the current chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. He was sworn into the position on April 7, 2010, succeeding Edward Chavez.

Jurisdiction

The court may hear direct appeals in cases of life sentences or writs of habeas corpus. Additionally, all cases from the Public Regulation Commission and election challenges. "In its discretion, the Court may issue writs of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, and superintending control."

Judicial selection

See Partisan election of judges.

Justices are selected by both gubernatorial commission process and partisan elections. The Commission recommends to the Governor several candidates, and upon appointment by the Governor, the judge runs in the subsequent partisan election. To retain office, the judge must run on a nonpartisan ballot and win at least 57% of the vote.^[1]

Qualifications

To be a qualified candidate of the Supreme Court, the person must be no younger than 35, must have practiced law for at least 10 years, and must have been a resident of the state for at least three years.

Removal of justices

To remove a justice in New Mexico, the Supreme Court may remove the judge based on the recommendation of the judicial standards commission, or a judge may be impeached by the house and convicted by the senate of the state.

Caseloads

In order to increase the efficiency of handling the caseload, after a case is submitted, the court discusses the case. The case then goes to one of the justices (the responsibility is divided equally) to write an opinion. Adoption of the opinion, decision, or order is given with three of the five members of the court. A member of the court may decide to write a concurring or dissenting opinion, however, the majority opinion determines law.

Salaries

Notable decisions

History of the court

For a complete history of the New Mexico Supreme Court, click here.

Territorial laws

The Kearny Code of Laws of 1846 provided the territorial laws of New Mexico prior to statehood.^[2]

Compiled Laws of New Mexico 1897

The Laws of 1897, Chapter XLIII, found that "There has been no legal compilation of the laws of the Territory of New Mexico since the year 1884 and the available supply of the Compiled Laws of that year and the Session Laws of 1887 and 1889 have been entirely destroyed by fire and those of other sessions of the Legislature have become practically exhausted in the hands of the Territorial Secretary and Librarian, so that to procure copies of the laws of years is attended with great expense and trouble."

Supreme Court building

"The Supreme Court building"

The court meets in "the Supreme Court building" in Santa Fe. The construction for the building began in 1934 and was completed in 1937 at a total cost of $307,000. This building is the only building in the state that the Public Works Administration project created and is still being used for the intended purpose. The building is registered on the Historic Santa Fe Foundation Registry, the State of New Mexico register of historic buildings, and the National Register of Historic Places.^[3]

Notable firsts

External links

• New Mexico Supreme Court Official Site
• List of the state's Supreme Court justices since statehood
• KFOXTV "NM High Court Won't Suspend Las Cruces Judge" April 12, 2011

References

v • d • e New Mexico Supreme Court
Current	Edward Chavez  •  Patricio Serna  •  Charles Daniels  •  Petra Jimenez Maes  •  Richard Bosson  •
Former