On August 4, U.S. District Court Judge Judith Herrera, a Bush Jr. appointee, ruled that New Mexico state officials cannot require a group to register as a “political committee”, just because it sent out mailings to voters criticizing several state legislators. The decision is New Mexico Youth Organized v Herrera, 08-1156, and is 30 pages.

New Mexico law says that any group that spends $500 on partisan political communications is a “political committee”, but the judge ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court has already established that a “political committee” is something that is either controlled by a candidate, or which has as its major purpose the nomination or election of a candidate.

Furthermore, the opinion says that the literature mailed by New Mexico Youth Organized is not unambiguously related to any campaign, just because it criticized the incumbents and because it was mailed in an election year.