Judge lifts Lujan Grisham’s restraining order
Gubernatorial candidate’s ex-intern protested at events; order states she has right to political speech
gubernatorial A state judge candidate has quashed Michelle Democratic Lujan Grisham’s restraining order against a former intern. The congresswoman from Albuquerque applied for the restraining order last week after Riley Del Rey disrupted her speeches at the state Democratic Party’s preprimary convention and another event.
But in an order this week, state District Judge Clay Campbell wrote that Del Rey is not accused of making any threats of violence against the congresswoman and has a constitutional right to political speech. Police arrested Del Rey, 26, at the convention, and she faces charges of disorderly conduct and assault after officers say she stood on a chair, shouted and threw paper during the congresswoman’s address to delegates.
But Campbell noted Del Rey is accused only of acting violently when officers attempted to remove her from the convention hall.
“While the application contains allegations that the defendant has been ‘disruptive’ at political events, the defendant has a high protected right to political speech, guaranteed under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 17 of Article II of the New Mexico Constitution,” Campbell wrote.
The judge wrote Del Rey already appears barred from any contact with the congresswoman after her arrest at the Democratic convention.
And in any event, he suggested there are less restrictive options for curbing Del Rey’s contact with Lujan Grisham, such as barring Del Rey from private events.
Del Rey was an intern with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute during 2015 and was assigned to Lujan Grisham’s Washington, D.C., office. But she says the congresswoman got her fired from the internship because she is transgender.
Lujan Grisham’s office and the institute have denied any discrimination occurred.
But Del Rey has undertaken a sort of campaign against the congresswoman, protesting at some of her events.
In applying for the restraining order, a lawyer for Lujan Grisham said the gubernatorial candidate fears the former intern will cause harm to her or others.
“The congresswoman is not the victim here,” Del Rey said in an email earlier this week. “She has security, attorneys, money and is using her power to punish a constituent for speaking out against her side.”