Human Rights Defense Center
For Immediate Release
December 9, 2025
Albuquerque, NM – On December 4, 2025, the non-profit organization Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC)i filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico to challenge censorship by the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The complaint names the county of Bernalillo, County Manager Cindy Chavez, MDC Warden Steven Smith, Deputy Wardens Rosanne Otero and Reyna McCann, and various jail employees as defendants. “Prisoners have a well-established right to receive books and magazines via the mail from publishers and vendors. It is outrageous that we are having to fight to vindicate rights which were established decades ago,” said Paul Wright, HRDC’s executive director. “Even more outrageous is that we are having to sue them a second time after winning a lawsuit over the exact same thing a decade ago,” Wright added.
HRDC successfully litigated a similar censorship case against Bernalillo County and MDC officials in the past. See Prison Legal News v. County of Bernalillo, et al., United States District Court Cause Number 15-cv-107 JAP/KBM (D. NM 2015). In that case, “to put an end to this litigation and to avoid unnecessary expense and the uncertainties of future litigation regarding the Plaintiffs claims,” the defendants entered into a settlement agreement stipulating that MDC officials “will deliver soft cover books sent through the mail directly to individual prisoners at MDC as long as the books are sent from publishers and other book distributors,” to provide written notice and an administrative appeal process if any book is censored in the future, and to pay HRDC $235,000. Despite that binding agreement, and in the face of public outrage and legal questions posed by the Bernalillo County Detention Facility Advisory Board, MDC implemented a policy on July 18, 2025 banning all books, magazines, and other written literature sent to individuals confined in the jail.
HRDC publishes two monthly educational publications, Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, which were mailed to prisoners at MDC along with legal books and correspondence. Since July 2025, at least 160 publications and other items mailed to individuals confined in MDC were censored by jail officials and returned to HRDC marked “Return to Sender” or “Transitioned to a Digital Mail System” without further explanation, and HRDC was not afforded an opportunity to appeal the jail’s censorship decisions. In the new complaint, HRDC alleges violations of its constitutional rights under the free speech clause of the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to due process, and breach of contract for violating the terms of the 2015 settlement agreement. These violations have infringed upon HRDC’s “constitutional rights to distribute its publications, communicate its political message to prisoners, to recruit new supporters, readers and subscribers, and have caused Plaintiff additional financial harm in the form of lost subscriptions, and lost publication and book purchases.”
“HRDC’s books and magazines inform prisoners about educational opportunities, their constitutional rights, and provide a means for self-improvement while incarcerated,” noted HRDC Litigation Director Jonathan Picard. “Banning these publications from reaching those who are in jail is an affront to the First Amendment, as well as counterproductive to the goals of security and rehabilitation.”
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, declaratory relief and damages against the defendants, as well as attorney fees and costs. HRDC is represented by attorneys Ernest Galvan and Benjamin Bien-Kahn with the San Francisco, CA law firm Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld,ii Laura Schauer Ives with the Albuquerque, New Mexico law firm Ives & Flores,iii and by HRDC Litigation Director Jonathan Picard.
The case is Human Rights Defense Center v. Bernalillo County et al., USDC D.NM, Case No. 1:25-cv-01208.
For further information, please contact:
Paul Wright, Executive Director
Human Rights Defense Center
(802) 275-8594
pwright@prisonlegalnews.org
Ernest Galvan, Cal. Bar No. 196065
Benjamin Bien-Kahn, Cal. Bar No. 267933
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
101 Mission Street, Sixth Floor
San Francisco, California 94105-1738
(415) 433-6830
egalvan@rbgg.com
bbien-kahn@rbgg.com
Laura Schauer Ives, SB# 12463
Ives & Flores P.A.
925 Luna Circle NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 364-3858
laura@nmcivilrights.com
i The Human Rights Defense Center, founded in 1990 and based in Boynton Beach, Florida, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News (PLN) and Criminal Legal News (CLN), two monthly magazines that include reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues. PLN has thousands of subscribers nationwide and operates a website (www.prisonlegalnews.org) that includes a comprehensive database of prison and jail-related articles, news reports, court rulings, verdicts, settlements and related documents.
ii Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP, founded in San Francisco in 1990, focuses its practice on complex litigation and high-profile cases that move and shape public policy. RBGG partners have been consistently recognized as some of the top trial and appellate lawyers in California, and represent clients across the nation. Its trial, appellate, and U.S. Supreme Court practice emphasizes seven primary areas: complex commercial litigation; lawyer-to-lawyer assistance; trial and appellate practice; constitutional and civil rights; class actions in civil rights, employment, antitrust and consumer protection; workplace disputes; and alternative dispute resolution, both as providers of neutral services and as advocates. RBGG cases involve the most complex and sophisticated of issues, and each of us strives to be a client-centered lawyer, emphasizing personal service and responsiveness to a client’s overall business or personal interests.
iii When your civil rights have been violated, the attorneys at Ives & Flores, will fight back. Our Albuquerque lawyers have more than 45 combined years of experience practicing exclusively in civil rights law and police brutality cases. Civil rights violations, police brutality and other injustices can happen to anyone. Our team handles police misconduct cases in which officers abuse their power and violate constitutional protections. When prisoners face abuse behind bars, our attorneys demand accountability from institutions. Sexual assault survivors deserve justice, and our lawyers pursue every available legal remedy. In wrongful death cases, they help families seek compensation while holding the responsible parties accountable. Our attorneys understand the courage it takes to stand up against powerful systems. Their approach combines aggressive advocacy with compassionate support. They know these cases inside and out, and they are not intimidated by challenging opponents. Your rights matter. When they are violated, our team is here to restore justice and protect your future