For decades, Rothstein Donatelli has been a leader in protecting the rights of incarcerated persons and their families. Our attorneys' legal actions have made the lives of countless incarcerated safer through large cases, such as the Duran and McClendon Consent Decrees monitoring the New Mexico Department of Corrections and Metropolitan Detention Center, class action litigation targeting unconstitutional strip-searches and endangering inmates health during renovation projects, and singular lawsuits holding detention facilities accountable for their failures to provide for the health and safety of those in their care.
We, like all of you, are deeply concerned about the ability and willingness of detention facilities across New Mexico to appropriately address the coronavirus pandemic. As the situation first began to unfold, we urged state and local authorities to use existing authority to release non-violent offenders immediately to reduce the dangers presented to those incarcerated and to reserve the limited available medical care for those whose lives will depend on it.
In addition to communicating with authorities in state government to advocate for prisoner's rights during this crisis, we are setting out to monitor the efforts of facilities in our state and to make sure that those running our jails and prisons know they are being watched. Public records requests are being delivered to facilities across the state by our team demanding answers for incarcerated persons and their families about the efforts facilities are taking to specifically protect the incarcerated during this crisis.
We will continue to monitor the situation in our jails and prisons and push those in charge to ensure you and your loved ones are treated with the dignity, respect and humanity all deserve during this time of crisis.
