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Complete September30 Edition of the Newspaper (PDF) Complete September16 Edition of the Newspaper (PDF) Complete September 2 Edition of the Newspaper (PDF) Complete August 19 Edition of the Newspaper (PDF) Complete July 8 Edition of the Newspaper (PDF) Recent Articles Return of the Goddess to Balance with
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to Begin Process of Prohibiting Production of New Nuclear Weapons in
New Mexico Legislature is a “Brain
Trust” to Accomplish All We Need in New Mexico |
Judge Michael Vigil Recommended for Supreme Court Appointment After long and careful deliberation, New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge Michael Vigil is our first choice for the Supreme Court appointment soon to be made by Gov. Richardson. There are many worthy candidates, and we hope the criteria for the choice go much further than who is from Southern New Mexico and how long it has been since someone from Southern New Mexico was appointed to the Supreme Court, which candidates are women, who gave the most money to whichever campaign, or who is or was in the most prestigious or best connected law firm. Such considerations might figure into getting elected or appointed to the Legislature. However, the Supreme Court is above all of that, with its enormous power to change procedures and correct ongoing injustices in our sometimes flawed jurisprudential system. We make this recommendation to the Governor knowing how important the personality and philosophy of the candidate is to the overall functioning of the Supreme Court as well as how he or she fits into Governor Richardson’s long range views on these matters. We are very mindful of Judge Vigil’s involvement in the Court of Appeals going back to 1976. With ancestral roots from Abiquiu and from Espanola, and the first of his family to go to college, Vigil was appointed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals by Governor Richardson. He took the oath of office and assumed his duties in March 2003. Vigil graduated from Santa Fe High in 1969, and rather than go then to Vietnam as he almost did, his mother encouraged him to check out college scholarships, and Vigil got one from the College of Santa Fe. He graduated summa cum laude in 1973 with a major in political science and minor in history, receiving the highest award given to a student, the Brother Benildus Award, named after the founder of the College. He received his legal education at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. and vividly recalls starting law school during that “Watergate summer.” He was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, and completed law school in 1976. Vigil began his legal career as a staff attorney for the New Mexico Court of Appeals in its newly created pre-hearing division from 1976 until 1979, and then entered private practice, focusing on criminal defense and civil litigation, with an emphasis on personal injury and medical malpractice in the civil field. He has appeared in every judicial district in the State, and before almost every sitting federal judge. Judge Vigil appears as appellate counsel in 51 published cases in New Mexico. The cases cover numerous areas of the law, including torts, contracts, civil procedure, evidence, real property, worker’s compensation, statutory construction, condemnation, zoning, civil forfeiture, domestic relations, damages, insurance, and securities. In the criminal law he argued cases covering grand jury, search and seizure, double jeopardy, speedy trial, pre-indictment delay, right to counsel, evidence, privilege, and sentencing issues. He recently told us that “never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I could have made this much progress.”We encourage our readers to communicate your support for Judge Michael Vigil to the New Mexico Supreme Court.
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