SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that citizen
can’t convene grand juries to investigate the governor’s response to
COVID-19 because her actions were lawful and within the scope of her
authority.
The high court’s order Monday scuttles three grand jury petitions in the politically
conservative southeastern corner of the state against New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan
Grisham.
The justices also ordered district courts to deny any similar petitions as they are
filed.
In the response to the pandemic, the Democratic governor has pursued
aggressive emergency public health orders that restricted nonessential
business, imposed extended mask mandates and enabled many public schools
to suspend classroom teaching for a year or more.
The orders have withstood multiple legal challenges.