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Jurors begin deliberating in New Mexico v. Meta State asking social media giant to pay about $2B in penalties over state’s claims platforms expose kids to sexual content By Phaedra Haywood phaywood@sfnewmexican.com
The New Mexico Department of Justice is asking jurors in Santa Fe to order social media giant Meta to pay about $2 billion in penalties for alleged violations of the Unfair Trade Practices Act. Attorneys for the state and Meta delivered their closing arguments Monday in a weekslong trial over the state’s allegations the company’s platforms expose children to sexual content and predators, and that Meta misled consumers about the harms.
Jurors began deliberating around 4 p.m. but told First Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid an hour later they wished to adjourn for the day and return Tuesday to continue weighing evidence. If jurors find Meta made false or misleading statements or designed its products to take advantage of users to a “gross” degree, the judge said, they must consider how many users under 18 would not have used the platforms if they had been informed of the risk. Then they can determine an appropriate penalty. Such a penalty must be “based on reason
and justice,” the judge said. Federal law protects Meta from being held liable for content posted by third parties, but it can be held liable for its own statements and conduct, including decisions about the design safety on its platforms, the judge said. The jury deliberations in Santa Fe come as a California jury has struggled to reach a verdict after days of deliberating in a social Please see story on Page A-4 Kevin Huff, an attorney for Meta, makes his closing statement Monday in the trial for State of New Mexico v. Meta Platforms Inc., in the First District Court in Santa Fe. EDDIE MOORE/ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL VIA POOL
Uphill push for ROCk Plans for south-side homeless shelter move forward without state capital outlay
Sheriff’s office investigates homicide in Rancho Viejo 50-year-old woman was found dead at home Sunday, according to news release By Nicholas Gilmore
ngilmore@sfnewmexican.com
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and emergency dispatchers have released little information about an investigation into a woman’s slaying at her home in a sprawling subdivision south of Santa Fe. The agency announced Monday it had opened an investigation into the death of 50-year-old Jennifer Vigil, whose body was found Sunday in a home in Rancho Viejo. However, officials did not provide any details about the killing and said the investigation has been sealed by a judge. No one has been charged in Vigil’s death, which the sheriff’s office has classified as a homicide. It’s unclear if detectives have identified a suspect, although a spokesperson wrote in an email, “There is no perceived threat to the public.” A homeowner’s association didn’t send out any alert to neighbors about potential danger. A news release from the sheriff’s office states Vigil was Please see story on Page A-4
NATHAN BURTON/THE NEW MEXICAN
Trash Pandas volunteer Jan Adler throws a trash bag onto a trailer filled with garbage and debris that was previously scattered across a vacant lot March 7. The site is the home for a new a homeless shelter called the ROCk, led by Interfaith Community Shelter.
By Carina Julig
S.F. Police Department
cjulig@sfnewmexican.com
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Emblem Road
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Proposed new shelter
Santa Fe nonprofit plans to move ahead with construction of a new 125-bed homeless shelter on the city’s south side despite a failed attempt to secure legislative capital outlay for the project. Interfaith Community Shelter — the founder and longtime operator of a city-owned homeless shelter on Cerrillos Road before its ouster from the facility in late July — took a major step forward in January when it closed on the purchase of a 1.1-acre parcel at 1 Emblem Road near the Santa Fe Place mall. The group now plans to build a facility from the ground up with both overnight and day services for homeless residents. The estimated price tag for the building, known as the Resource and Opportunity Center, or the “ROCk,” is $16 million, which the nonprofit had hoped to defray with state funding
Santa Fe Place mall
New Mexico board approves rule to regulate PFAS in consumer products
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As early as next year, a conical flask with the acronym “PFAS” will start appearing on certain consumer products in New Mexico. The Environmental Improvement Board on Monday approved a rule to phase out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, from some consumer products in the state and require labeling for others. “That image will serve the universal language of identity and provide whoever is shopping the ability to understand what we’re trying to convey: There’s PFAS in this product,” said Environment Secretary James Kenney, who noted that most other states with PFAS labeling requirements use words rather than an icon. PFAS, a chemical family of substances that resists Please see story on Page A-4
Trump says U.S. negotiating end to war; Iran denies it Prospect of de-escalation reverses market declines By Luke Broadwater, Aaron Boxerman, Erika Solomon and Thomas Fuller The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States and Iran were negotiating a “total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,”
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backing away from his threats over the weekend to attack Iranian power plants. Trump said Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, one of his most senior advisers, were leading the talks. “We have had very, very strong talks,” Trump told reporters
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Monday. “We’ll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement.” The prospect of negotiations to end the war launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28 sharply reversed some of the steep declines in global financial markets. But Iran publicly denied negotiations were taking place, with the speaker of Iran’s parlia-
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ment taking to social media to call it fake news. Still, according to four Iranian officials and an Iranian diplomat, Iran and the United States have been exchanging messages through intermediaries about de-escalating the conflict, though the messages appeared to be short of negotiations. The talks aimed to
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Obituaries
Mostly sunny and clear. High 82, low 53.
Ruth Hege Howes, 80, Santa Fe, April 29 Ellen Marie Wickard, 70; Pecoria, Ariz.; Dec. 9 Penny Lynn (Keller) Urrea, Feb. 26 Georgia Carson, March 17
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