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New Mexico Supreme Court rules in favor of Taos citizens

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court has decided a former school board official will not be getting restitution for public outcry aimed at him in 2009. Monday's ruling affirms a state District Court decision and overturns a state Court of Appeals decision, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported (http://bit.ly/2qTpVMR ). Arsenio Cordova had been vice president of the Taos Municipal School District board when a group of school staff, parents and board members wanted to recall him. The group organized as Citizens for Quality Education, gathered signatures and applied for a hearing to determine if the recall would be warranted. The hearing was supposed to happen within 10 days — but never did — and then the group withdrew its petition. That's when Cordova sued, saying the group used the recall process to harass him and lacked legitimate complaints. The high court found that the group's recall effort was protected by a state statute on what is known as SLAPP litigation, an acronym for strategic lawsuit against public participation. The law protects people from having to fight expensive civil suits over political activity by granting them expedited review of such suits and the right to collect attorney's fees if the person who sues them over protected political activity loses in court. The Supreme Court also ruled that the citizens were protected by the federal Noerr-Pennington doctrine, which is rooted in the First Amendment right to petition and has broader protections. ___ Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com