NM Attorney General: Yazzie-Martinez Case & Gallup-McKinley County Schools Investigation

New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

Lou DiVizio opens the show with some headlines from around New Mexico, including an update on the arrest of a 23-year-old man in the shooting of a Native American man during a peaceful demonstration in Española.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, Attorney General Raúl Torrez explains two recent decisions involving education in our state. In partnership with New Mexico In Depth, Executive Director Trip Jennings asks Torrez about his intention to take over litigation in the Yazzie-Martinez case. Then, Jennings discusses a recent announcement from the attorney general that his office will investigate reported disproportionately harsh discipline at Gallup-McKinley County Schools. New Mexico In Depth’s Bryant Furlow broke the story last year, prompting Torrez to take a closer look.

Executive Producer Jeff Proctor moderates a special panel that reacts to both of those topics and digs deeper into some of the lingering questions around each. Jeff asks if the attorney general has the broad authority he’s asserting to take over the Yazzie-Martinez case and if there could be a political incentive for him to get involved. Then, Jeff and the panel explore New Mexico In Depth’s reporting on the disciplinary issues at Gallup-McKinley and how Torrez’s investigation could play out.

Host: Lou DiVizio

Correspondent: Trip Jennings, executive director, New Mexico In Depth

Guest: Raúl Torrez, (D) Attorney General, New Mexico

Panel Host: Jeff Proctor

Guests:

Trip Jennings, executive director, New Mexico In Depth

Regis Pecos, co-founder, Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute

Danielle Gonzales, senior fellow, One Generation Fund, APS board member

For More Information:

NM Attorney General seeks control over state response to Yazzie-Martinez – New Mexico In Depth

Does Not Equal: New Mexico faces a steep climb to make education more equitable – Santa Fe Reporter

Attorney General to Investigate School Discipline at Gallup McKinley Schools – New Mexico In Depth