Vacation & Legal Stuff
September 10, 2017 11:15 Rants & Rulings | Book signings
Summer is a time to relax and chill out. But now it is fall, and it's time to take some names and kick some ….
Yes, I was off for a while. I had scheduled some medical stuff that wasn’t serious but I just didn’t feel like communicating and frankly, it was too hot. I took advantage of August and not a lot happening.
But September has come and things are jumping. I started out September with a $9M+ lawsuit against the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) for 232 violations of the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA). I have been sitting on this since December and the time was right and everything came together in my head.
You may say $9M+ really? But I didn’t come up with that amount, the law specifies up to $100 per day per violation. Now, I will never get all that money but there is another fact that might speed up things.
If this goes to trial and I win, every citizen in New Mexico can do the same IPRA lawsuit and potentially get a lot of money too. Anyone can request the 2016 3-day IPRA request letters from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 from NMPED. You see, 199 letters have the wrong wording to comply with the law and 33 letters are just missing also violating the law.
A letter from Assistance Attorney General Dylan Lange verifies the wrong and missing letters. He also says that NMPED should “generally” follow the law. Do you generally follow the law to not rob banks, kill people, or file your taxes? No, the law is the law and people are supposed to follow the law 100%, not generally. It is unbelievable that an Assistant Attorney General advocated “generally” following the law. This may get very embarrassing if it goes to trial. What is also interesting is that NMPED, after years of having the correct wording, changed it in March, 2016, and changed it back in October, 2016. Who does that? Lange also stated the NMPED should be “consistent” when following the IPRA law. Really? If government agencies can’t be consistent why should we? He also said that the 199 violations were “not intended to mislead.” How does he know this? Was he inside someone’s head? Does he have a degree in misleading? He also said the IPRA response letters were not late – some of mine were! I don’t know about other peoples except already I know of one person in the 199 whose response was very late. So he is misinformed or confused at best.
See the lawsuit and Dylan Lange’s letter — BY CLICKING HERE
I advise everyone to request the IPRA. All you have to do is send an email to Beverly Friedman, bev.friedman@state.nm.us and say specifically you want the 2016 PED 3-day IPRA response letters for January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. Put on your email request: name, address, and phone number. That is it! No expense and in 15 calendar days a disc will be sent to you. Then sit on it until I go to court. NOTE: You have to get a response to your IPRA response within 3 BUSINESS days!
This is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer. But right now you have nothing to loose and we will see what happens. I advise for bedtime reading, the Attorney General’s Compliance Guide for IPRA on the NMOAG website or NMFOG. Start to learn why IPRA is important to you. People in the know who have read everything say it is a slam dunk.
Barbe Awalt
Nov 12: 4th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Museum Arts & Crafts Fair, 9am to 5pm
HENRIETTA CHRISTMAS & PAUL RHETTS ("The Basic Genealogy Checklist")
Dec 9: Los Lunas Public Library, 10am
January 6: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, 10am
January 9: El Castillo Living Center, Santa Fe, NM, 7pm
NASARIO GARCIA ("Grandpa Lolo's Matanza")
Sept 9: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
RILEY MITCHELL ("The Essential Paranormal Bucket List")
Oct 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
SLIM RANDLES ("The Fly Fisherman's Bucket List")
Nov 9: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
JOSEPH SANCHEZ ("Historic Route 66")
Sept 16: Special Collections Library, 423 Central Ave NE, 10am-12noon
Oct 7: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 18: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 3pm
JOHN TAYLOR & RICHARD MELZER ("Tragic Trails & Enchanted Journeys" & "Captain Maximiliano Luna")
Nov 11: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 16: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROBERT TORREZ ("Voices from the Past")
Nov 4: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROSS VAN DUSEN ("What Makes the Lightning?", "How the Crocka Dog Came to Be"; and "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree")
Oct 28: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Dec 1: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 6pm
But September has come and things are jumping. I started out September with a $9M+ lawsuit against the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) for 232 violations of the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA). I have been sitting on this since December and the time was right and everything came together in my head.
You may say $9M+ really? But I didn’t come up with that amount, the law specifies up to $100 per day per violation. Now, I will never get all that money but there is another fact that might speed up things.
If this goes to trial and I win, every citizen in New Mexico can do the same IPRA lawsuit and potentially get a lot of money too. Anyone can request the 2016 3-day IPRA request letters from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 from NMPED. You see, 199 letters have the wrong wording to comply with the law and 33 letters are just missing also violating the law.
A letter from Assistance Attorney General Dylan Lange verifies the wrong and missing letters. He also says that NMPED should “generally” follow the law. Do you generally follow the law to not rob banks, kill people, or file your taxes? No, the law is the law and people are supposed to follow the law 100%, not generally. It is unbelievable that an Assistant Attorney General advocated “generally” following the law. This may get very embarrassing if it goes to trial. What is also interesting is that NMPED, after years of having the correct wording, changed it in March, 2016, and changed it back in October, 2016. Who does that? Lange also stated the NMPED should be “consistent” when following the IPRA law. Really? If government agencies can’t be consistent why should we? He also said that the 199 violations were “not intended to mislead.” How does he know this? Was he inside someone’s head? Does he have a degree in misleading? He also said the IPRA response letters were not late – some of mine were! I don’t know about other peoples except already I know of one person in the 199 whose response was very late. So he is misinformed or confused at best.
See the lawsuit and Dylan Lange’s letter — BY CLICKING HERE
I advise everyone to request the IPRA. All you have to do is send an email to Beverly Friedman, bev.friedman@state.nm.us and say specifically you want the 2016 PED 3-day IPRA response letters for January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. Put on your email request: name, address, and phone number. That is it! No expense and in 15 calendar days a disc will be sent to you. Then sit on it until I go to court. NOTE: You have to get a response to your IPRA response within 3 BUSINESS days!
This is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer. But right now you have nothing to loose and we will see what happens. I advise for bedtime reading, the Attorney General’s Compliance Guide for IPRA on the NMOAG website or NMFOG. Start to learn why IPRA is important to you. People in the know who have read everything say it is a slam dunk.
Barbe Awalt
UPCOMING CALENDAR:
RIO GRANDE BOOKSNov 12: 4th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Museum Arts & Crafts Fair, 9am to 5pm
HENRIETTA CHRISTMAS & PAUL RHETTS ("The Basic Genealogy Checklist")
Dec 9: Los Lunas Public Library, 10am
January 6: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, 10am
January 9: El Castillo Living Center, Santa Fe, NM, 7pm
NASARIO GARCIA ("Grandpa Lolo's Matanza")
Sept 9: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
RILEY MITCHELL ("The Essential Paranormal Bucket List")
Oct 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
SLIM RANDLES ("The Fly Fisherman's Bucket List")
Nov 9: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
JOSEPH SANCHEZ ("Historic Route 66")
Sept 16: Special Collections Library, 423 Central Ave NE, 10am-12noon
Oct 7: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 18: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 3pm
JOHN TAYLOR & RICHARD MELZER ("Tragic Trails & Enchanted Journeys" & "Captain Maximiliano Luna")
Nov 11: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 16: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROBERT TORREZ ("Voices from the Past")
Nov 4: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROSS VAN DUSEN ("What Makes the Lightning?", "How the Crocka Dog Came to Be"; and "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree")
Oct 28: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Dec 1: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 6pm