N.M. High Court Says Government May Impose Penalties for Violation of COVID-19 Orders

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled that government emergency orders restricting business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic under threat of a civil penalty were legally issued under the state’s Public Health Emergency Response Act (PHERA).

In a Nov. 5 order, the court concluded that the state legislature did not intend to limit the government’s powers to Health to rulemaking in order to close public places or forbid gatherings of people, and that PHERA’s civil penalty provision, is applicable to violations of measures other than those taken under the "special powers" and quarantine/isolation procedures set forth in …