In the sea of things she learned from the recent settlement of her years long public records battle, former Daily Lobo Editor-in-Chief Lily Alexander has a message for student journalists: trust your instincts.
On Sept. 4, University of New Mexico agreed to settle a lawsuit that Alexander filed last March while working at the Daily Lobo, alleging that the UNM Police Department had violated the Inspection of Public Records Act.
After the settlement last month, the University provided Alexander with UNMPD’s weapons inventory with the weapons’ location redacted, and agreed to eventually pay $195,000 — $65,000 to Alexander, and $130,000 in attorney fees.
Alexander graduated from UNM this year and has now written over 100 articles for the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Alexander requested a copy of UNMPD’s weapons inventory in November 2023 when she was 19 years old. Her request was denied under the IPRA exception that the information she was requesting had the potential to facilitate the execution of a terrorist attack, she said.
This came after the Daily Lobo published Alexander’s article on UNMPD’s lack of body cameras despite a state statute requiring most NM police officers to use them.
“I was very exhilarated by writing that story, and I wanted to write more stuff about UNMPD and showcase what their operations look like from behind the scenes for the student body,” Alexander said.
Alexander told the Daily Lobo the denial of her request “felt wrong” to her at the time, especially after hearing stories from Daily Lobo alumni about how UNM has a “bad history with IPRA.”
Alexander said she decided to sue UNM when she was still denied her request after showing the UNM Records custodian, Rob Tafoya, a 2015 court ruling that found the Albuquerque Police Department’s weapons inventory to be public.
Adam Flores, who was Alexander’s lawyer for the case, said his goal when he took the case last year was to work with UNM to get the public record for Alexander and the Daily Lobo as quickly as possible so that she could report on it, he said.
“I was sort of mystified about why the UNM Police Department would have thought that (UNMPD’S weapons inventory) was not a public record available to the public,” Flores said.
Flores said the University claimed a “very narrow” exception to IPRA that usually applies to a terrorist response plan or a tactical plan, and wouldn’t apply to a list of weapons.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“I felt like the University really wanted to dig in its heels and fight it instead of doing the right thing and recognizing that the records had to be produced,” Flores said.
In April, Tafoya reopened Alexander’s IPRA request and provided her with a heavily redacted document, only revealing some information about UNMPD’s handguns.
Alexander signed the settlement agreement that resulted in the release of the full weapons inventory on Sept. 25.
“I feel both honored and also privileged to have gone about this through the legal system, because another thing I’ve been thinking about as I stare at my wall at night is not everyone has time, energy, resources, money to hire a lawyer and fight back,” Alexander said.
Flores said Alexander was an “inspiring client.”
“I would have been happy to go to trial with her. I think that she’s done something that most people would have just given up on, instead she kept pressing and wanted to look into it, wanted to explore legal action and ultimately trusted us to do the case for her,” Flores said
UNM Executive Director of Strategic Communications Ben Cloutier wrote to the Daily Lobo that UNM has no comment as the litigation is ongoing.
Alexander said that she learned everything she brings to her current reporting job from working at the Daily Lobo.
“Student journalism is journalism, and I do believe that,” Alexander said. “It’s really important for journalists who don’t feel adequate or like dealing with imposter syndrome or feeling like maybe (they) don’t know what they’re talking about or what they’re doing, to trust their instincts and be confident in what they do know.”
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
