TEXAS v. NEW MEXICO
No. 65, Orig.
Stipulated judgment entered February 26, 1990
Based upon the recommendation of the Special Master, the Joint Motion for Entry of Stipulated Judgment (Joint Motion) is granted, and the Court hereby enters judgment as follows:
STIPULATED JUDGMENT
1. On or before March 1, 1990, New Mexico shall pay Texas $14 million, to be disbursed by Texas in accordance with Exhibit B to the Joint Motion which is herein reproduced, by either delivering a check or draft in that amount made payable to the State of Texas or transferring that amount to the State of Texas by electronic wire transfer.
2. Texas releases New Mexico from all claims for equitable or legal relief, other than the relief embodied in the March 28, 1988, Amended Decree and actions thereunder, arising out of New Mexico’s breaches of the Pecos River Compact for the years 1952 through 1986, plus all claims for attorney’s fees and other costs incurred prior to August 10, 1989.
3. Nothing herein affects the Court’s March 28, 1988, Amended Decree and actions thereunder.
EXHIBIT B
Texas shall deposit $13.8 million in the Texas Water Assistance Fund No. 480 of the Texas Water Development Board (Board), created pursuant to Chapter 15 of the Texas Water-Code, to be used for agricultural and irrigation projects (including associated water quality improvement projects) and any necessary associated studies in the Texas counties of Loving, Ward, Reeves, and Pecos. In funding such projects and studies, the Board shall give preference to projects and studies affecting surface water irrigators in the Red Bluff Water Power Control District in the four designated Texas counties, if appropriate. The remaining $200,000 maybe treated by the Attorney General of the State of Texas as attorney’s fees or investigative costs; provided, however, Texas and New Mexico agree that any use of the settlement funds in this manner does not constitute, and shall not be construed as, an admission, express or implicit, that New Mexico has any liability for Texas’ attorney’s fees and costs incurred in this litigation.
What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the issue area of the Court's decision. Determine the issue area on the basis of the Court's own statements as to what the case is about. Focus on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis. In specifying the issue in a legacy case, choose the one that best accords with what today's Court would consider it to be. Choose among the following issue areas: "Criminal Procedure" encompasses the rights of persons accused of crime, except for the due process rights of prisoners. "Civil rights" includes non-First Amendment freedom cases which pertain to classifications based on race (including American Indians), age, indigency, voting, residency, military or handicapped status, gender, and alienage. "First Amendment encompasses the scope of this constitutional provision, but do note that it need not involve the interpretation and application of a provision of the First Amendment. For example, if the case only construe a precedent, or the reviewability of a claim based on the First Amendment, or the scope of an administrative rule or regulation that impacts the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. "Due process" is limited to non-criminal guarantees. "Privacy" concerns libel, comity, abortion, contraceptives, right to die, and Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations. "Attorneys" includes attorneys' compensation and licenses, along with trhose of governmental officials and employees. "Unions" encompass those issues involving labor union activity. "Economic activity" is largely commercial and business related; it includes tort actions and employee actions vis-a-vis employers. "Judicial power" concerns the exercise of the judiciary's own power. "Federalism" pertains to conflicts and other relationships between the federal government and the states, except for those between the federal and state courts. "Federal taxation" concerns the Internal Revenue Code and related statutes. "Private law" relates to disputes between private persons involving real and personal property, contracts, evidence, civil procedure, torts, wills and trusts, and commercial transactions. Prior to the passage of the Judges' Bill of 1925 much of the Court's cases concerned such issues. Use "Miscellaneous" for legislative veto and executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states.
Criminal Procedure Civil Rights First Amendment Due Process Privacy Attorneys Unions Economic Activity Judicial Power Federalism Interstate Relations Federal Taxation Miscellaneous Private Action