Victory! Court Stops New Mexico Governor from Scrapping Factory Farm Laws

by Taylor Leake · 2011-02-17 06:17:00 UTC
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A while back, New Mexico's incoming governor, Susana Martinez, attempted to sidestep a few laws she didn't like that had been passed in the previous session of the state legislature. Laws don't go into effect in New Mexico until they are published, and while these laws had been passed, they hadn't been printed yet. Governor Martinez thought it would be a fun trick to simply order the laws she didn't like not to be printed, preventing them from going into effect and derailing years of hard work.

One of the laws was a new regulation on dairy farms — namely, factory dairy farms. The law mandated that dairy farms had to tell the state how much they were polluting and what they were doing to prevent this contamination. Pollution has become an increasing problem, as nearly 90 percent of groundwater near dairy factory farms is polluted. A large coalition thought that this regulation was absolutely necessary to protect the state's water supply, and folks didn't like that Governor Martinez was single-handedly scrapping it. So the coalition sued Governor Martinez.

Now, just one month after Governor Martinez attempted her sleight of hand, the New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled that she can't just do away with laws she doesn't like. Those suing Martinez and other state officials argued that not publishing the laws was a violation of the state's constitution and other regulations. The court, made up of a panel of five judges, agreed. They ordered the factory farm law and others to be published and put into effect, just like the legislature intended. The decision was unanimous.

The organizations that took up this fight — which included Caballo Concerned Citizens, Citizens For Dairy Reform, Rio Valle Concerned Citizens, the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, and Amigos Bravos — were not in the battle alone. Change.org members also pushed back against Governor Martinez, with nearly 200 people writing to her to demand that she not undo years of work by failing to regulate factory farm pollution. This ruling is a great win for the environment, for the people of New Mexico, and for the idea that one elected official shouldn't have so much control over the state's legislative process.

Photo Credit: Walknboston via Flickr

Taylor Leake is a foodie and activist. He's previously worked for Food and Water Watch and Wake Up Walmart.
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