Dismissed cases show university should not have arrested journalists
New Mexico State Police and University of New Mexico police arrest pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque on April 30, 2024.
Charges have been dismissed against two Albuquerque journalists who were arrested at the University of New Mexico during a police sweep of a pro-Palestinian encampment in May. Although they no longer face trial, the journalists’ arrests and subsequent prosecution were violations of their constitutional rights and should have never occurred in the first place.
“By dropping the prosecutions, the UNM Police Department sent a message, albeit belatedly, that journalists can report freely,” Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) advocacy intern Jimena Pinzon wrote for the Albuquerque Journal. “While they deserve some credit for eventually coming to their senses, next time they need to avoid heading down this path in the first place.”
Pinzon also discussed a problematic legal quirk that allows police in New Mexico to prosecute misdemeanor cases without involving actual prosecutors. That allowed police to cut out the local district attorney, whose office had vowed not to prosecute First Amendment activity at protests.
You can read the op-ed here.