A 70-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit against the City of Moriarty and Torrance County after being arrested and detained for 72 hours following a peaceful protest outside a gun show at the Moriarty Civic Center. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is representing her in this case.
Jill Gatwood, the plaintiff, said she was standing alone on a public sidewalk with a handmade sign advocating for restrictions on assault-style weapons when officers from the Moriarty Police Department asked her to leave. According to Gatwood, "I chose to protest at the gun show because I wanted to bring my message about gun violence to people who don't usually hear it. I stood peacefully with my sign, and several people stopped to have respectful conversations with me. I never imagined that exercising my constitutional right to free speech would land me in jail from Saturday through Tuesday."
Police claimed that the gun show had rented all surrounding areas and arrested Gatwood for trespassing when she refused to leave. She was then held at Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF), which has previously been criticized for its conditions.
During her time in detention, Gatwood reported being strip searched and denied access to prescribed medication, resulting in withdrawal symptoms. She described feeling uncertain about her release date and recounted an incident where a detention officer threatened her: "I had no idea when I would get out," Gatwood said. "I felt completely powerless. I was stripped of all control, denied my medication, and arrested and jailed for peacefully expressing my views. No one should have to endure what I went through simply for peacefully protesting."
Lalita Moskowitz, Litigation Manager at ACLU of New Mexico, commented on the situation: "The right to peaceful protest is foundational to our democracy, and what happened to Jill Gatwood should never happen to anyone. She was exercising her most basic constitutional rights on public property. Law enforcement violated those rights and subjected her to days of unlawful detention and degrading treatment."
Shortly after Gatwood's release, a municipal court judge dismissed the criminal trespass charge against her permanently.
The lawsuit has been filed under the New Mexico Civil Rights Act in Seventh Judicial District Court and seeks compensatory damages for alleged violations of Gatwood's rights under the state constitution.
