New Mexico Supreme Court
New Mexico Supreme Court |
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Court Information |
Justices: 5 |
Founded: 1912 |
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico |
Salary |
Associates: $191,683[1] |
Judicial Selection |
Method: Partisan election |
Term: 8 years |
Active justices |
Briana H. Zamora |
Founded in 1912, the New Mexico Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Shannon Bacon.
As of September 2021, one judge was elected in a partisan election as a Democrat, and four judges were appointed by a Democratic governor.
The New Mexico Supreme Court meets in the Supreme Court Building in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[2] The court's year-long term begins in January.[3]
In New Mexico, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
Jurisdiction
The New Mexico Supreme Court has mandatory appellate jurisdiction over cases involving life sentence and death penalty appeals, Public Regulation Commission appeals, and appeals regarding election challenges. The court has discretionary appellate jurisdiction to grant writs of certiorari to review judgments of the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and it has superintending control over lower courts.[4][5]
The following text from Article VI, Sections 2 and 3 of the New Mexico Constitution covers the jurisdiction of the court:
" |
Supreme Court; Appellate Jurisdiction Appeals from a judgment of the district court imposing a sentence of death or life imprisonment shall be taken directly to the supreme court. In all other cases, criminal and civil, the supreme court shall exercise appellate jurisdiction as may be provided by law; provided that an aggrieved party shall have an absolute right to one appeal. Supreme Court; Original Jurisdiction; Supervisory Control; Extraordinary Writs The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction in quo warranto and mandamus against all state officers, boards and commissions, and shall have a superintending control over all inferior courts; it shall also have power to issue writs of mandamus, error, prohibition, habeas corpus, certiorari, injunction and all other writs necessary or proper for the complete exercise of its jurisdiction and to hear and determine the same. Such writs may be issued by direction of the court, or by any justice thereof. Each justice shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus upon petition by or on behalf of a person held in actual custody, and to make such writs returnable before himself or before the supreme court, or before any of the district courts or any judge thereof.[6] |
” |
—New Mexico Constitution, Article VI, Sections 2 and 3 |
Justices
The table below lists the current justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court, their political party, and when they assumed office.
Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office |
---|---|---|---|
New Mexico Supreme Court | Shannon Bacon | Democratic | February 4, 2019 |
New Mexico Supreme Court | David K. Thomson | Democratic | February 4, 2019 |
New Mexico Supreme Court | Julie Vargas | Democratic | January 25, 2021 |
New Mexico Supreme Court | Michael E. Vigil | Democratic | December 31, 2018 |
New Mexico Supreme Court | Briana H. Zamora | Democratic | August 9, 2021 |
Judicial selection
- See also: Judicial selection in New Mexico
The five justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court are chosen through partisan elections. After serving for one year, the appointed justice must win the first partisan general election after their appointment to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Justices serve eight-year terms.[7] To serve additional terms, justices must receive at least 57% of the vote in a retention election.[7]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a person must:
- be at least 35 years old;
- have practiced law for ten years before assuming office; and
- have been a New Mexico resident for three years before assuming office.[8]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by a peer vote of the justices to serve a two-year term. The chief justice must have been elected to the court, not appointed to fill a vacancy.[9]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a justice from a list of qualified candidates recommended by a judicial nominating commission. The appointed judge will serve until the first general election held one year after their appointment. The appointee must run in that general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[10]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
Elections
- See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections
2024
- See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2024
The term of one New Mexico Supreme Court justice will expire on December 31, 2024. The one seat is up for retention election on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for retention candidates was June 27, 2024.
Candidates and results
Zamora's seat
New Mexico Supreme Court
Briana H. Zamora is running for retention to the New Mexico Supreme Court on November 5, 2024.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
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Yes |
|||||
No |
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Total Votes |
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2022
- See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2022
Candidates and results
Vargas' seat
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Julie Vargas defeated Thomas Montoya in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Julie Vargas (D) | 52.7 | 366,369 | |
![]() | Thomas Montoya (R) | 47.3 | 328,475 |
Total votes: 694,844 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Julie Vargas advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Julie Vargas | 100.0 | 114,820 |
Total votes: 114,820 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Thomas Montoya advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Thomas Montoya | 100.0 | 90,934 |
Total votes: 90,934 | ||||
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Zamora's seat
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Briana H. Zamora defeated Kerry Morris in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Briana H. Zamora (D) | 54.2 | 375,836 |
![]() | Kerry Morris (R) | 45.8 | 318,215 |
Total votes: 694,051 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Briana H. Zamora advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Briana H. Zamora | 100.0 | 114,245 |
Total votes: 114,245 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Kerry Morris advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Kerry Morris | 100.0 | 91,298 |
Total votes: 91,298 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Vigil's seat
New Mexico Supreme Court
Michael E. Vigil was retained to the New Mexico Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 69.3% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
✔ | Yes |
69.3
|
408,573 | ||
No |
30.7
|
180,965 | |||
Total Votes |
589,538 |
|
2020
- See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2020
Candidates and election results
Bacon's seat
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Shannon Bacon defeated Ned S. Fuller in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Shannon Bacon (D) | 55.7 | 495,759 | |
![]() | Ned S. Fuller (R) | 44.3 | 394,595 |
Total votes: 890,354 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Shannon Bacon advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Shannon Bacon | 100.0 | 204,196 |
Total votes: 204,196 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Ned S. Fuller advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Ned S. Fuller | 100.0 | 133,706 |
Total votes: 133,706 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Thompson's seat
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent David K. Thomson defeated Kerry Morris in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | David K. Thomson (D) | 54.2 | 480,507 | |
![]() | Kerry Morris (R) | 45.8 | 406,791 |
Total votes: 887,298 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent David K. Thomson advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | David K. Thomson | 100.0 | 201,767 |
Total votes: 201,767 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Kerry Morris advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Kerry Morris | 100.0 | 132,763 |
Total votes: 132,763 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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2018
- See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2018
Candidates and results
Clingman's seat
General election candidates
- Gary L. Clingman (Incumbent) (Republican Party)
- Michael E. Vigil (Democratic Party) ✔
Justices not on the ballot
- Charles Daniels (D)
- Petra Jimenez Maes (D)
Caseloads
The table below details the number of cases filed with the court and the number of dispositions (decisions) the court reached each year.[11]
New Mexico Supreme Court caseload data | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Filings | Dispositions |
2020-2021 | 509 | 536 |
2019-2020 | 591 | 650 |
2018-2019 | 666 | 636 |
2017-2018 | 577 | 825 |
2016-2017 | 567 | 567 |
2015-2016 | 587 | 597 |
2014-2015 | 576 | 572 |
2013-2014 | 562 | 533 |
2012-2013 | 532 | 516 |
2011-2012 | 597 | 580 |
2010-2011 | 621 | 662 |
2009-2010 | 671 | 749 |
2008-2009 | 601 | 658 |
2007-2008 | 701 | 767 |
2006-2007 | 609 | 647 |
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters (2021)
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters, a study on how state supreme court justices decided the cases that came before them. Our goal was to determine which justices ruled together most often, which frequently dissented, and which courts featured the most unanimous or contentious decisions.
The study tracked the position taken by each state supreme court justice in every case they decided in 2020, then tallied the number of times the justices on the court ruled together. We identified the following types of justices:
- We considered two justices opinion partners if they frequently concurred or dissented together throughout the year.
- We considered justices a dissenting minority if they frequently opposed decisions together as a -1 minority.
- We considered a group of justices a determining majority if they frequently determined cases by a +1 majority throughout the year.
- We considered a justice a lone dissenter if he or she frequently dissented alone in cases throughout the year.
Summary of cases decided in 2020
- Number of justices: 5
- Number of cases: 23
- Percentage of cases with a unanimous ruling: 87.0% (20)
- Justice most often writing the majority opinion: Justice Barbara Vigil (9)
- Per curiam decisions: 0
- Concurring opinions: 0
- Dissenting opinions: 3
- Justice with most dissenting opinions: Justice Judith Nakamura (3)
For the study's full set of findings in New Mexico, click here.
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
- See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation, based on a variety of factors. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on the political or ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. To arrive at confidence scores we analyzed each justice's past partisan activity by collecting data on campaign finance, past political positions, party registration history, as well as other factors. The five categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[12]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
We used the Confidence Scores of each justice to develop a Court Balance Score, which attempted to show the balance among justices with Democratic, Republican, and Indeterminate Confidence Scores on a court. Courts with higher positive Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Republican Confidence Scores, while courts with lower negative Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Democratic Confidence Scores. Courts closest to zero either had justices with conflicting partisanship or justices with Indeterminate Confidence Scores.[13]
New Mexico had a Court Balance Score of -5.6, indicating Democrat control of the court. In total, the study found that there were 15 states with Democrat-controlled courts, 27 states with Republican-controlled courts, and eight states with Split courts. The map below shows the court balance score of each state.
![SSC by state.png](https://ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumb/7/75/SSC_by_state.png/600px-SSC_by_state.png)
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns." A score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of New Mexico was given a campaign finance score (CFscore), which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, New Mexico received a score of -1.18. Based on the justices selected, New Mexico was the most liberal court. The study was based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges, or—in the absence of elections—the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice but rather an academic gauge of various factors.[14]
Noteworthy cases
For a full list of opinions published by the court, click here. Know of a case we should cover here? Let us know by emailing us.
Ethics
The New Mexico Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in New Mexico. It is composed of eight rules:
- 21-100: Titled "A judge shall hold the integrity and independence of the judiciary."
- 21-200: Dictates that judges should show respect for the law, and sets guidelines for impartiality
- 21-300: Titled "A judge shall perform the duties of office impartially and diligently."
- 21-400: Describes a judge's duty to recuse in cases of conflicts of interest
- 21-500: Titled "A judge shall so conduct the judge's extra-judicial activities as to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial obligations."
- 21-600: Titled "Reporting quasi-judicial and extra-judicial activities and compensation."
- 21-700: Describes appropriate behavior related to "Elections and political activity."
- 21-800: Titled "A judge shall refrain from campaign fund-raising activity which has the appearance of impropriety."[15]
The full text of the New Mexico Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.
Removal of judges
Judges in New Mexico may be removed in one of two ways:
- Removal or retirement by the supreme court, on a recommendation of the judicial standards commission
- Impeachment by a majority vote of the house of representatives, plus removal a two-thirds vote of the senate[16]
History of the court
The New Mexico Supreme Court was founded in 1912. The court had three seats until 1929, when it was expanded to five.[17] For information about former justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court, click here.
The court meets in the Supreme Court Building in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Completed in 1937, the building was a project of the Public Works Administration and is on the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places.[2]
For a history of New Mexico state law, click here.
Courts in New Mexico
- See also: Courts in New Mexico
In New Mexico, there is one federal district court, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction.
Click a link for information about that court type.
The image below depicts the flow of cases through New Mexico's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.
Party control of New Mexico state government
A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. A state supreme court plays a role in the checks and balances system of a state government.
New Mexico has a Democratic trifecta. The Democratic Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.
New Mexico Party Control: 1992-2024
Seventeen years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Governor | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D |
Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
See also
External links
- New Mexico Courts | Supreme Court
- New Mexico Courts | Current Supreme Court Justices
- New Mexico Courts | Former Supreme Court Justices
- New Mexico Courts | Supreme Court Opinions
Footnotes
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 New Mexico Courts, "Supreme Court Building Information," accessed September 2, 2021
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 7)
- ↑ New Mexico Courts, "Court Information," accessed September 20, 2019
- ↑ New Mexico Courts, "About the Courts," accessed September 20, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 33) Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name "nmconst33" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 8)
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 34 Article 2)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed March 29, 2024 (Article VI Section 35)
- ↑ New Mexico Courts, "Reports & Policies," accessed September 2, 2021
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ The Court Balance Score is calculated by finding the average partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court. For example, if a state has justices on the state supreme court with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Court Balance is the average of those scores: 3.3. Therefore, the Confidence Score on the court is Mild Republican. The use of positive and negative numbers in presenting both Confidence Scores and Court Balance Scores should not be understood to that either a Republican or Democratic score is positive or negative. The numerical values represent their distance from zero, not whether one score is better or worse than another.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission, "Code of Judicial Conduct," 2010
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: New Mexico: Removal of Judges," accessed June 20, 2015
- ↑ New Mexico Courts, "Supreme Court Historical Information," accessed September 2, 2021
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Mexico • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Mexico
State courts:
New Mexico Supreme Court • New Mexico Court of Appeals • New Mexico District Courts • New Mexico Magistrate Court • New Mexico Municipal Courts • New Mexico Probate Courts • New Mexico Problem-Solving Courts • New Mexico Workers' Compensation Administration Court • Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
State resources:
Courts in New Mexico • New Mexico judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Mexico
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