Federal lawsuit filed against New Mexico over military spouse law license transfers
By Jason McNabb
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SANTA FE, New Mexico (KOAT) — The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a federal lawsuit against the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners, accusing them of violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by allegedly failing to recognize out-of-state law licenses for military members and their spouses.
The lawsuit claims that New Mexico’s requirements for transferring law licenses—including transcripts, test scores, references, and character evaluations—violate the federal statute.
“The Federal Department of Justice says, well, there’s a federal law that says military families shouldn’t have to reapply every time they’re transferred in the military to different states,” KOAT legal expert John Day said.
Day explained that the SCRA is intended to simplify employment transitions for service members and their families.
“The goal of that is to say, if we send you to an Air Force base in New Mexico, but you’ve been practicing law in Maryland, you ought to be able to pick up where you left off, so there’s no disadvantage, and you’re not, there’s not disability if you’re a military spouse,” he said.
Mark Baker, the attorney representing the New Mexico Supreme Court, defended the state’s actions, saying, “It’s not like this is bogging people down. It’s just ensuring that the background check, which the law allows states to do, is completed and is consistent across lawyers in the state.” Baker added, “I would think that the federal government and everybody in New Mexico would expect that lawyers would have to have a background check on their moral and ethics.”
Baker said the disagreement stems from differing interpretations of the SCRA.
“The Department of Justice is saying that, in its view, that doesn’t mean that you can check for the character and fitness evaluation to research morals and ethics. You only could do like a criminal background check is how they best described it,” he said.
He also noted that the New Mexico Supreme Court attempted to resolve the issue out of court by sending a letter to the Department of Justice seeking clarification on the statute and the allegations.
“Instead of getting a response to that, we got a letter giving the Supreme Court four days to agree to a sweeping consent decree that had six requirements,” Baker said.
When the court requested more time, the lawsuit was filed shortly after.
Day described the situation as unusual.
“You have a situation where the Department of Justice is suing a state Supreme Court, which you don’t see that every day,” he said. “You have to wonder if this thing could have been resolved in another way without tying up the courts.”
In a news release, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison highlighted the importance of license portability for military families.
“Spousal unemployment is a leading cause of service members leaving military service and is a significant readiness and retention issue. This lawsuit highlights the fact that license portability is a critical tool for our military spouses to be able to earn a living in the manner of their choosing,” Ellison said.
A federal judge will now decide whether New Mexico violated the SCRA. Target 7 reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico for comment but did not receive a response. The New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners also did not respond to inquiries.
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