Right to Gay Wedding Photography Protected by HRA

As a guardian ad litem (GAL) and domestic relations mediator in New Mexico, I am keenly interested in legal cases of first impression involving family and home issues.  In a case involving the intersection of competing personal rights, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently concluded that a professional wedding photographer's refusal--on personal and religious grounds--to photograph a same-sex commitment  ceremony constitutes a violation of NMSA 1978, Section 28-1-7(F) (2004) of the New Mexico Human Rights Act" (NMHRA or HRA).  See Elane Photography, LLC v. Willock, 2012-NMCA-086, cert. granted. Aug. 16, 2012, No. 33,687.

Willock first filed a discrimination claim against Elane Photography with the Human Rights

Kinship Guardianship Revisited

In my capacity as a domestic relations mediator and GAL, I have previously written about a rather convoluted Kinship Guardianship case, Freedom C. v. Julie Ann D., 2011-NMCA-040, in which the New Mexico Court of Appeals concluded that both parents must meet the grounds of § 40-10B-8(B) relied upon.  In that case, only Mom had consented to the Kinship Guardianship, and the child had resided only without Dad for the 90-day period.  See § 40-10B-8(B)(1) and (3).  However, the Supreme Court has recently reversed the Court of Appeals, concluding that "the Legislature intended that both parents need to satisfy at least one of the three conditions, regardless of whether they satisfy the same condition."  See In re Patrick D., NM Sup. Ct. No. 32,944 (May 30, 2012).