New Mexico State
Constitution of 1919 in regards to the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 2-2- 1848
Sec. 5. [Rights under Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo preserved.]
The rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and religious
guaranteed to the people of New
Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo shall be preserved inviolate.
Sec. 6. [Right to bear arms.]
No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms
for security and defense, for lawful
hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing
herein shall be held to permit
the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall
regulate, in any way, an incident of
the right to keep and bear arms. (As amended November 2, 1971 and November
2, 1986.)
Sec. 7. [Habeas corpus.]
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall never be suspended,
unless, in case of rebellion or
invasion, the public safety requires it.
Sec. 8. [Freedom of elections.]
All elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or military,
shall at any time interfere to
prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.
Sec. 9. [Military power subordinate; quartering of soldiers.]
The military shall always be in strict subordination to the civil power;
no soldier shall in time of peace
be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in
time of war except in the manner
prescribed by law.
Sec. 10. [Searches and seizures.]
The people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes and effects,
from unreasonable searches
and seizures, and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person
or thing, shall issue without
describing the place to be searched, or the persons or things to be
seized, nor without a written
showing of probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.
Sec. 11. [Freedom of religion.]
Every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of
his own conscience, and no
person shall ever be molested or denied any civil or political right
or privilege on account of his
religious opinion or mode of religious worship. No person shall be
required to attend any place of
worship or support any religious sect or denomination; nor shall any
preference be given by law to any
religious denomination or mode of worship.
Sec. 12. [Trial by jury; less than unanimous verdicts in civil
cases.]
The right of trial by jury as it has heretofore existed shall be secured
to all and remain inviolate. In all
cases triable in courts inferior to the district court the jury may
consist of six. The legislature may
provide that verdicts in civil cases may be rendered by less than a
unanimous vote of the jury.
Sec. 13. [Bail; excessive fines; cruel and unusual punishment.]
All persons shall, before conviction be bailable by sufficient sureties,
except for capital offenses when
the proof is evident or the presumption great and in situations in
which bail is specifically prohibited by
this section. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishment inflicted.
Bail may be denied by the district court for a period of sixty days
after the incarceration of the
defendant by an order entered within seven days after the incarceration,
in the following instances:
A. the defendant is accused of a felony and has previously been convicted
of two or more felonies,
within the state, which felonies did not arise from the same transaction
or a common transaction with
the case at bar;
B. the defendant is accused of a felony involving the use of a deadly
weapon and has a prior felony
conviction, within the state. The period for incarceration without
bail may be extended by any period
of time by which trial is delayed by a motion for a continuance made
by or on behalf of the defendant.
An appeal from an order denying bail shall be given preference over
all other matters. (As amended
November 4, 1980 and November 8, 1988.)
Sec. 14. [Indictment and information; grand juries; rights of
accused.]
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, felonious or infamous
crime unless on a presentment
or indictment of a grand jury or information filed by a district attorney
or attorney general or their
deputies, except in cases arising in the militia when in actual service
in time of war or public danger.
No person shall be so held on information without having had a preliminary
examination before an
examining magistrate, or having waived such preliminary examination.
A grand jury shall be composed of such number, not less than twelve,
as may be prescribed by law.
Citizens only, residing in the county for which a grand jury may be
convened and qualified as
prescribed by law, may serve on a grand jury. Concurrence necessary
for the finding of an indictment
by a grand jury shall be prescribed by law; provided, such concurrence
shall never be by less than a
majority of those who compose a grand jury, and, provided, at least
eight must concur in finding an
indictment when a grand jury is composed of twelve in number.
Until otherwise prescribed by law a
grand jury shall be composed of twelve in number of which eight must
concur in finding an indictment.
A grand jury shall be convened upon order of a judge of a court empowered
to try and determine
cases of capital, felonious or infamous crimes at such times as to
him shall be deemed necessary, or a
grand jury shall be ordered to convene by such judge upon the filing
of a petition therefor signed by not
less than the greater of two hundred registered voters or two percent
of the registered voters of the
county, or a grand jury may be convened in any additional manner as
may be prescribed by law.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to appear
and defend himself in person,
and by counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation; to
be confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have the charge and testimony interpreted to him in
a language that he understands; to
have compulsory process to compel the attendance of necessary witnesses
in his behalf, and a speedy
public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which
the offense is alleged to have been
committed. (As amended November 4, 1924, effective January 1, 1925,
November 4, 1980, and
November 8, 1994.)
Sec. 15. [Self-incrimination; double jeopardy.]
No person shall be compelled to testify against himself in a criminal
proceeding, nor shall any person
be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense; and when the indictment,
information or affidavit upon
which any person is convicted charges different offenses or different
degrees of the same offense and a
new trial is granted the accused, he may not again be tried for an
offense or degree of the offense
greater than the one of which he was convicted.
Sec. 16. [Treason.]
Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against
it, adhering to its enemies, or giving
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless
on the testimony of two
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
Sec. 17. [Freedom of speech and press; libel.]
Every person may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all
subjects, being responsible for
the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or
abridge the liberty of speech or of the
press. In all criminal prosecutions for libels, the truth may be given
in evidence to the jury; and if it shall
appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true and
was published with good motives and
for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted.
Sec. 18. [Due process; equal protection; sex discrimination.]
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due
process of law; nor shall any
person be denied equal protection of the laws. Equality of rights under
law shall not be denied on
account of the sex of any person. The effective date of this amendment
shall be July 1, 1973. (As
amended November 7, 1972).
Sec. 19. [Retroactive laws; bills of attainder; impairment of
contracts.]
No ex post facto law, bill of attainder nor law impairing the obligation
of contracts shall be enacted by
the legislature.
Sec. 20. [Eminent domain.]
Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without
just compensation.
Sec. 21. [Imprisonment for debt.]
No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action.
Sec. 22. [Alien landownership.]
Until otherwise provided by law no alien, ineligible to citizenship
under the laws of the United States,
or corporation, copartnership or association, a majority of the stock
or interest in which is owned or
held by such aliens, shall acquire title, leasehold or other interest
in or to real estate in New Mexico.
(As amended September 20, 1921.)
Sec. 23. [Reserved rights.]
The enumeration in this constitution of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny, impair or disparage
others retained by the people.
Sec. 24. [Victim's rights.]
A. A victim of arson resulting in bodily injury, aggravated arson,
aggravated assault, aggravated
battery, dangerous use of explosives, negligent use of a deadly weapon,
murder, voluntary
manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, criminal sexual
penetration, criminal sexual contact
of a minor, homicide by vehicle, great bodily injury by vehicle or
abandonment or abuse of a child or
that victim's representative shall have the following rights as provided
by law:
(1) the right to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim's
dignity and privacy throughout the
criminal justice process;
(2) the right to timely disposition of the case;
(3) the right to be reasonably protected from the accused throughout
the criminal justice process;
(4) the right to notification of court proceedings;
(5) the right to attend all public court proceedings the accused has
the right to attend;
(6) the right to confer with the prosecution;
(7) the right to make a statement to the court at sentencing and at
any post-sentencing hearings for the
accused;
(8) the right to restitution from the person convicted of the criminal
conduct that caused the victim's
loss or injury;
(9) the right to information about the conviction, sentencing, imprisonment,
escape or release of the
accused;
(10) the right to have the prosecuting attorney notify the victim's
employer, if requested by the victim,
of the necessity of the victim's cooperation and testimony in a court
proceeding that may necessitate
the absence of the victim from work for good cause; and
(11) the right to promptly receive any property belonging to the victim
that is being held for evidentiary
purposes by a law enforcement agency or the prosecuting attorney, unless
there are compelling
evidentiary reasons for retention of the victim's property.
B. A person accused or convicted of a crime against a victim shall
have no standing to object to any
failure by any person to comply with the provisions of Subsection A
of Section 24 of Article 2 of the
constitution of New Mexico.
C. The provisions of this amendment shall not take effect until
the legislature enacts laws to implement
this amendment. (As added November 3, 1992.)
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ARTICLE III
DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS
Section
1. Separation of departments; establishment of workers' compensation body.
Section 1. [Separation of departments; establishment of workers'
compensation body.]
The powers of the government of this state are divided into three distinct
departments, the legislative,
executive and judicial, and no person or collection of persons charged
with the exercise of powers
properly belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise any
powers properly belonging to either
of the others, except as in this constitution otherwise expressly directed
or permitted. Nothing in this
section, or elsewhere in this constitution, shall prevent the legislature
from establishing, by statute, a
body with statewide jurisdiction other than the courts of this state
for the determination of rights and
liabilities between persons when those rights and liabilities arise
from transactions or occurrences
involving personal injury sustained in the course of employment by
an employee. The statute shall
provide for the type and organization of the body, the mode of appointment
or election of its members
and such other matters as the legislature may deem necessary or proper.
(As amended November 4,
-
1986.)
