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Constitutional Amendment No. 3Proposing to amend Article 6, Section 35 of the constitution of New Mexico by allowing the dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law to appoint a designee to the Judicial Nominating Commission.Enmienda Constitucional 3Proponiendo una enmienda al Artículo 6, Sección 35 de la Constitución de Nuevo México para permitir que el decano de la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad de Nuevo México nombre a un designado para la Comisión de Nominaciones Judiciales.ARGUMENTS FOR1. The role of chair of the Appellate Judges Nominating Commission is primarily administrative. The Rules Governing Judicial Nominating Commissions outline the role of the chair and task the chair with the duties of announcing the existence of a judicial vacancy to the public and members of the commission, scheduling meetings of the commission and providing the media with notice of the meetings, preparing application packets and preparing agendas for meetings. These are not tasks that require the legal mind of the dean of a school of law, but even if they were, this proposed amendment ensures that there will be an esteemed legal scholar serving as chair of the commission.2. The University of New Mexico School of Law serves a vital interest to the state by educating a vast majority of the attorneys who practice here since it is the only school of law in New Mexico. Beyond the normal duties of being the dean of a school of law, and the current requirement to serve as chair of the Appellate Judges Nominating Commission, the dean is also required by statute to serve as the chair of the Judicial Compensation Commission. Allowing the dean s designee to serve on the Appellate Judges Nominating Commission would relieve the dean of a commitment that could be performed by others3. The dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law is already permitted to have a designee for important commissions, including the New Mexico Sentencing Commission and the New Mexico Compilation Commission. The dean is also required to appoint three members to the Public Defender Commission. Each of these commissions have functioned adequately without requiring the dean to attend every meeting. The dean should be allowed to appoint a designeeARGUMENTS AGAINST1. Potentially removes a neutral tie-breaking vote from the commission. When the Appellate Judges Nominating Commission was created, there was a desire to have a neutral person who could break any of the commission s tie votes. The legislature, which passed the joint resolution to create the commission, and the people, who voted to pass the constitutional amendment in 1988, believed that the dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law was the best person to put into this neutral tie-breaking role.2. Could remove one of New Mexico s most prominent legal scholars from the judicial appointment process. The Appellate Judges Nominating Commission serves a vital role in New Mexico s judicial system by vetting and nominating candidates for the most prominent judicial positions in the state. The dean is tapped into New Mexico s legal community by virtue of being the head of the state s only law school. The dean s connections in the legal community could provide insight into the careers and backgrounds of the applicants that the commission vets.Additional campaign finance information for this ballot measure may be found on OpenSecrets: https://www.opensecrets.org/ballot-measures/NM/2024/summary