Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
SANTA FE — Citizen-initiated petitions to convene grand juries to investigate the governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic are legally invalid, the state Supreme Court ruled March 7.
The Court issued an order directing district court judges to deny grand jury petitions filed in Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties and any similar petitions elsewhere in the state “because they only describe lawful, noncriminal activity,” which is outside the boundaries of what a grand jury can investigate.
The Court noted its previous rulings that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “acted lawfully and within the scope of her executive authority when she declared a public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delegated power to the Secretary of Health to further issue emergency orders to protect public health and safety.”
The New Mexico Constitution – Article II, Section 14 – allows citizens to submit petitions to a state district court to convene a grand jury to investigate alleged criminal conduct or malfeasance by a public official.
The Supreme Court ruled nearly three decades ago that judges must determine whether a grand jury petition is valid “on its face” and specifies “an area of inquiry that colorably lies within the permissible scope of a grand jury inquiry.”
Citing that ruling in the March 7 order, the Court concluded that grand jury petitions involving the governor’s pandemic response were “facially invalid.
