Subject: [EXTERNAL] Abortion Ordinance - Attorney Client Communication

From: Jared Morris

Date: 10/7/2022, 11:32 AM

To: [email protected]

Good Morning,

Attached please find two (2) alternative draft abortion ordinances provided to the Mayor on Wednesday Mark Lee

Dickson. Also attached is a letter from Johnathan F. Mitchell, the attorney primarily responsible for drafting the

ordinances.

I wanted to make a few points to put the comments from last night in context. To begin, the legality of the ordinances is

The Mayor and I attended a meeting with Mr. Dickson, Mr. Mitchell and representatives from the City of Hobbs a

couple of weeks ago. In that meeting, they proposed the private right of action ordinance (this is the ordinance they

travel with and propose to other cities). The Hobbs City Attorney pointed out that the New Mexico constitution

prohibits private right of action ordinances. At some point later (and with help from Hobbs), they came up with the

business license ordinance that they are asking us to adopt.

The full legal analysis is extremely complicated. Please feel free to contact me directly and I will give you my best

explanation. In short, I think the business license ordinance is the most defensible and most practical; however, there is

a financial risk in enacting that ordinance that is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify. While it is said that Mr.

Mitchell will represent the City for free, and while I believe I would receive plenty of legal support from Hobbs and

others, the City will still have to pay any judgment against us. This judgment could include attorney fees and costs if we

action, home rule cities are not prohibited from exercising their police/zoning powers, even out right prohibiting

abortion. As an aside, most people assume the legislature will take action on the issue eventually.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court Opinion in Dobbs clearly states that there is no Constitutional right to an

abortion, and that the federal government should not interfere with the States right to regulate abortion. Thus, the federal

statutes upon which the ordinances rely are illegal (as they would essentially make abortion illegal everywhere).

Again, please feel free to call me anytime to discuss this matter. I would like to end by mentioning that, shortly after a

recent City Commission Meeting in Hobbs which was similarly attended, Hobbs received an IPRA request from the

ACLU for all emails, texts and correspondence relating to their proposed abortion ordiannce.

Have a great weekend.

Jared

Clovis, NM 88101

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