LAS CRUCES – Presiding Las Cruces Municipal Judge Joy Goldbaum on Monday pushed back at accusations from Mayor Ken Miyagishima that “she would never put a homeless person in jail,” accusations leveled by the mayor in a Sun-News article Sept. 18.
Goldbaum was not able to respond to the newspaper’s request for comment before the article ran Sunday, but she called the mayor’s assertions “misinformation” Monday. The article detailed the presiding judge’s allegations that the mayor and city filled an associate municipal judge vacancy with the intent to hold people in jail more often for property crimes despite their ability to pay.
The mayor and associate judge have both denied the allegations.
Goldbaum ran for presiding judge in 2019 on a platform which included creating alternatives to incarceration and fines for the unhoused and poor. In the Sun-News article, the mayor alleges Goldbaum “has mentioned that she would never put a homeless person in jail. I don’t think that’s right.”
But during public comment at the Sept. 19 Las Cruces City Council meeting, the presiding judge said she has “never, ever had a policy or a practice of treating homeless people different than any other defendant.”
“I issue warrants for homeless people the same as I do other people when I feel that it is deserved,” such as when conditions are violated, Goldbaum said during public comment. “However, for me to treat a group as a specific class, to either discriminate against them or give them special benefits, would be completely unethical.”
Emails obtained by the newspaper showed the mayor had asked in June about Goldbaum’s authority to hold repeat offenders in jail in certain circumstances. The mayor has received multiple emails from his constituents concerned about criminal behavior, some allegedly perpetrated by unhoused residents. The same day Goldbaum replied to the mayor to say that his idea would be unconstitutional and unethical, emails also showed the mayor was seeking the appointment of a second judge.
The city council approved Kieran Ryan’s appointment to the Municipal Judge II position in August. Two weeks later, Goldbaum said she had disallowed him from hearing cases after finding out he lacked active status with the state bar association, which is spelled out in city code.
Goldbaum and the city are now arguing in district court about Ryan’s qualifications to serve in the role until the next election. The city argues its charter supersedes what it describes as a conflict between code and the charter, while the presiding judge denies such conflict exists.
The presiding judge on Monday urged the mayor to “work together” with her on combatting crime and addressing its intersection with homelessness in the city and to “stop pushing (her) away.”
The mayor said he’s open to working with Goldbaum but said he was concerned some people have been arrested 70 times and others have failed to make required court appearances. Goldbaum said she doesn’t believe jail is a long-term solution.
“You have people who are consistently breaking the law — they get arrested, they’re out within a couple hours and they’re back on the streets again,” the mayor said. “If there’s nothing, if they have no consequence, they’re just going to keep doing it.”
Another public commenter, retired Las Cruces municipal court administrator Lisa Almaguer, also spoke against Goldbaum and her behavior as a judge.
“Expecting local judges to impose sentences that influence lawful behavior is not unreasonable,” Almaguer said, adding she believes it’s not inconsistent with state law either. Almaguer also called Goldbaum biased and repeated the accusation she’s unwilling to jail homeless people, saying she’s heard it from Goldbaum personally.
Goldbaum did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Almaguer’s accusations.
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Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, [email protected] or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
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