NEW MEXICO JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT POSITION 2
1. Have you been endorsed by the Judicial Nominating Commission?
Yes, I was recommended by the Bi-Partisan Judicial Nominating Commission for this position and appointed by the Governor.
No.
2. What qualifies you for this position?
I serve as a Supreme Court Justice, in this position, with well-rounded legal experience having litigated civil, criminal and children’s court cases throughout the State of New Mexico. More significantly, the experience I gained as a trial and appellate court judge is invaluable. I have served at every level of the judiciary and presided in thousands of cases, over 100 jury trials and every type of criminal proceeding. I have in-depth knowledge of our criminal justice system. Additionally, as an appellate court judge I issued opinions in every area of the law.
I’ve been practicing law for over 40 years. I am a problem solver, not a part of the elite legal establishment with vested interests in furthering progressive political agendas. I represent the working people of New Mexico; they include families who’ve experienced tragedy, people who’ve been treated unfairly, and people who are victims of crime. I understand the problems of working people and small business owners who have lost jobs, their businesses due to government shutdowns. I will bring to the Supreme Court the balance of an outsider, a constitutionalist who strictly interprets the law.
3. What policies are needed to keep the judiciary independent from political influence?
As Judges, we must adhere to our oath of office and strict ethical rules, which requires judges to decide cases without regard to political or private interests and regardless of public opinion. We are required to follow the law and Constitution. Ethical rules also require that we not state our opinions on political issues. It is also critical that our state has public financing for our appellate and district judicial races to ensure that our campaigns are not funded with large contributions from private sources. That is why I’ve applied for and received public financing to run my campaign.
Increase judicial pay and make funding of the courts independent of the politics of legislature and the governor by indexing them to the pay rate for federal judges. The governor just vetoed a pay raise for the judges that would have done this. She did this without explanation leaving us to speculate as to her reasons. She vetoed the pay raise even though the court ruled in her favor on all of her Covid decrees. Perhaps the Governor was unhappy with the recent ruling by the court on who gets to spend the federal money. Clearly, she was sending a political message to the Supreme Court.
4. What improvements, if any, are needed in the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court is a respected and welloiled machine that has been following well-established protocols for decades. However, I do believe upgraded technology, including an updated case management system would result in more efficiencies. Increasing access to justice for our rural communities, continuing our efforts to better collaborate with our justice partners to improve our criminal justice system, and efforts such as our new Statewide Judicial Commission on Mental Health will ensure we continue to meet the needs of our residents who come into contact with the judicial system.
The Supreme Court will be improved with my election to the Court through a better balance of judicial philosophies. As the Albuquerque Journal stated when it endorsed me for the Supreme Court in 2020, “Morris, as a Republican, offers the Supreme Court some needed diversity in philosophy and thinking. The political balance of the court has historically been to the left, and the pending retirement of the Supreme Court’s only Republican, Judith Nakamura, makes balancing the court with a new Republican that much more important.” Albuquerque Journal October 15, 2020