New Mexico
New Mexico’s highest court is the New Mexico Supreme Court. The court has four justices and one chief justice. The chief justice is appointed according to the same procedures as the associate justices. (Source: New Mexico Constitution)
Judicial Selection
The governor appoints New Mexico Supreme Court justices from a list provided by a judicial nominating commission. An appointed justice must compete in a partisan election during the first general election after appointment. If elected, the justice serves the remainder of the seat’s eight-year term. At the end of that term, justices may stand in an unopposed yes/no retention vote. If retained by at least 57 percent affirmative votes, the justice serves another eight-year term. Justices may stand for additional terms in the same retention process. To fill an interim vacancy, the governor appoints a candidate from a list provided by a judicial nominating commission. An appointed justice serves until the next general election, where multiple candidates may vie for the seat in a partisan election. The elected judge serves the remainder of the unexpired term. There are no term limits, nor is there a mandatory retirement age.
State Constitution
New Mexico’s first and only state constitution was adopted in 1911. As of January 1, 2024, it had 177 amendments. (Source: John Dinan, 2024)
Filters
The New Mexico Constitution: Heavily Influenced By Its Land, Culture, and Peoples
The rights of Spanish speakers, including public school students, are uniquely protected.
State Constitutions Could Bar State and Local Police Collaboration with ICE
Case law in multiple states suggests state and local officials who cooperate in federal abuses might run afoul of their own state constitutions.
State Law Gives Litigators Extra Tools to Counter Originalism
Unique features of state courts allow lawyers to go beyond arguments available in federal courts.
The Untold Story of 150 Years of Women in State Judiciaries
A focus on the U.S. Constitution and federal judges has obscured a longer and more complex history of women serving on state benches — and how state constitutions mattered in their rise.
What’s Next for the Next Generation of Environmental Rights Cases?
Young people are building on lessons learned in recent litigation, using state constitutions and laws to develop and enforce environmental protections.
New Year Scholarship Roundup: Federal-State Conflict, State Courts, and Election Administration
Several new articles explore state power in times of federal-state and interstate conflict.
Who’s Hiring State Supreme Court Clerks?
State-by-state information to aid law students and young attorneys in securing a state clerkship.
Voting Rights and Democracy in State Courts
Transcript of panel from Symposium: The Power of State Constitutional Rights