Atencio v. State

A New Mexico trial court denied State defendants’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that they violated the New Mexico Constitution by continuing to authorize and promote oil and gas production without assuring protection of the environment. The alleged harms to the plaintiffs included impacts associated with climate change. Although the court said it might ultimately decline to grant injunctive or declaratory relief based on the political question doctrine, the court found that at this stage the plaintiffs stated claims upon which relief could be granted, including claims of violation of the Constitution’s Pollution Control Clause and claims of violations of the plaintiffs’ inherent rights and substantive due process rights and their rights to equal protection (the civil rights claims). The court noted that analysis of whether the New Mexico Constitution guarantees “a fundamental right to a beautiful and healthful environment” or a fundamental right to pollution control was “ill-suited for resolution at the motion to dismiss stage.” The court dismissed the civil rights claims against the State Legislature, finding that it was entitled to absolute immunity from those claims. The court also granted the executive branch defendants’ request that it authorize interlocutory appeal.