Press Freedom in New Mexico
Narrow, but strong where it applies
against retaliatory lawsuits over what you say
IFS grade
New Mexico scores 31 of 100 on the Institute for Free Speech's anti-SLAPP rubric, against a median of 85 across the 51 jurisdictions.
How much of what you say the statute reaches
What it actually does once it applies
The overall score is two parts coverage to one part protections, as IFS weights them.
What New Mexico actually gives a defendant
The five protections IFS scores. A statute can cover every kind of speech and still leave a defendant paying their own lawyer for two years.
- Case pauses while the motion is heardPartial: 5 / 20
- Plaintiff must show the case has meritPartial: 6 / 12
- Denial can be appealed at onceFull marks: 25 / 25
- Winning defendant recovers legal costsPartial: 36 / 40
- Courts told to read the law broadlyNothing: 0 / 3
New Mexico scores nothing on 1 of the five. That is where a bill amending the statute would have the most to fix.
Incidents logged in New Mexico
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has logged 11 press-freedom incidents in New Mexico since 2014, of which 3 are since January 1, 2021.
- Other Incident4
Logged, but outside the named categories
- Arrest/Criminal Charge3
Journalists arrested or charged while reporting
- Denial of Access2
Shut out of a public meeting, scene or record
- Assault1
Physical attacks on journalists covering a story
- Equipment Damage1
Cameras and gear broken during coverage
This is a count, not a score. It tracks where the protests and the newsrooms are as much as where the law is hostile, so a big state will out-count a small one whatever its statute says. An incident can carry more than one category, so the categories sum to more than the total. Nothing here is added to the anti-SLAPP score.
Where this comes from
The grade and the five component scores are the Institute for Free Speech's 2025 Report Card entry for New Mexico. Incident counts are the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, used under CC BY 4.0. Both retrieved September 19, 2026. The score is IFS's own judgement and is not part of the FreedomRankings score.
Anti-SLAPP law is one part of press freedom, not all of it — shield laws, public records law and how New Mexico courts actually rule are not scored here. None of this is legal advice; talk to a lawyer about an actual dispute.