Searchlight New Mexico

Searchlight New Mexico is a nonprofit news organization that operates without political bias, focusing on investigative journalism and public service to benefit the people of New Mexico.

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New Mexico’s open records law survives an unusual day in court

2 weeks ago | searchlightnm.org | Alex Heard

On March 31, the courtroom of First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson had a lot of lawyers on hand, in the room itself and on screens mounted above the benches and seats. I counted five people on one side, four on the other, with several more joining remotely.
The Gene Hackman estate is right to worry about public release of images from the scene of his death | Searchlight New Mexico

1 month ago | searchlightnm.org | Alex Heard

An attempt by the estate of Gene Hackman to stop release of information generated by investigations into the deaths of Hackman and Betsy Arakawa-Hackman has been successful in the short term: on Monday, March 17, a state district judge in Santa Fe granted a restraining order that temporarily blocks public distribution of certain materials that the estate hopes to keep private.
Inside the manslaughter conviction of a Las Cruces police officer | Searchlight New Mexico

1 month ago | searchlightnm.org | Joshua Bowling

Early in 2023, New Mexico’s police violence drew attention from all over the nation. In small towns like Farmington, officers were under the microscope for driving to the wrong address in response to a domestic violence call and shooting the homeowner dead on his stoop.
The dark money group fighting medical malpractice reform | Searchlight New Mexico

1 month ago | searchlightnm.org | Ed Williams

As lawmakers meet in the Roundhouse for the 2025 legislative session, New Mexico continues to stare down a health care crisis that risks the well-being — sometimes even the lives — of many of its residents. The state is facing a cavernous physician shortage that has already left people in some areas without doctors, particularly those needing specialized medical care.
Wipeout: New Mexicans talk about what mass firings mean for the future of public lands | Searchlight New Mexico

2 months ago | searchlightnm.org | Molly Montgomery

A week ago, on orders from the Trump administration, federal officials began firing thousands of employees at agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of USDA.
We choose to remember

2 months ago | searchlightnm.org | Alex Heard

Last week Searchlight New Mexico published two stories about the legacy of sexual abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The main piece, by Joshua Bowling, examines the overall arc of what happened in the central and northern parts of this state; why a mysterious facility in Jemez Springs served as a way station for much of the abuse that occurred; and why the archdiocese, to this day, actively keeps priests linked to sexual abuse from appearing on its “credibly accused”...
Why so many Catholic churches file for bankruptcy | Searchlight New Mexico

2 months ago | searchlightnm.org | Joshua Bowling

Across the U.S., 40 dioceses and religious orders have declared bankruptcy. The first was the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, in 2004. The most recent was the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, in late September 2024.
Darkness visible: the University of New Mexico’s archive on the sexual abuse of children by priests | Searchlight New Mexico

2 months ago | searchlightnm.org | Alex Heard

If you have experienced sexual assault, sexual violence or unwanted sexual contact, you can contact the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico at (505) 266-7711Links in this story contain graphic descriptions of sexual abuse of minors. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe Institutional Abuse Collection is an important new archive for documents that were generated, in large part, by victim lawsuits brought during the long, terrible history of sexual abuse of minors by priests in New Mexico.
Undercount: why the Catholic church refuses to list many New Mexico priests who've been linked to sexual abuse | Searchlight New Mexico

2 months ago | searchlightnm.org | Joshua Bowling

If you have experienced sexual assault, sexual violence or unwanted sexual contact, you can contact the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico at (505) 266-7711When the Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for bankruptcy on Dec.
A Navajo woman describes an encounter with U.S. immigration agents

2 months ago | searchlightnm.org | Molly Montgomery

On Jan. 29, a Diné woman told Searchlight New Mexico that ICE agents racially profiled and questioned her during a Jan. 22 workplace raid in Scottsdale, Arizona. The incident lasted around an hour and a half, she said, and deeply frightened her and her coworkers. What follows is a transcript of her account, edited for clarity and length. “It could have been easy for me to say, ‘You know what, where’s your identification? You’re on my land.’ But I didn’t do that.