Justice Patricio M. Serna Honored as Santa Fe Living Treasure

On Sunday, June 23, 2013, former IAALS Board Member and Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court Patricio M. Serna will be honored as a Santa Fe Living Treasure. The ceremony pays tribute to elders who have generously served the Santa Fe community “with kind hearts and good deeds”; their stories, oral histories, and photographs are preserved and displayed at the Gray Angelico Chavez History Library in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Justice Serna served on the New Mexico Supreme Court from 1996 until his retirement in 2012. He served as Chief Justice during 2001 and 2002. Previously, he was appointed as a District Court Judge to the First Judicial District in Santa Fe, where he served from 1985 until 1996. This time included a term as Chief Judge and also a term as President of the New Mexico District Judges Association.

Among his other awards and honors, Justice Serna was named one of Hispanic Business Magazine's 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America, and he received the Judge of the Year Award from the National Hispanic Bar Association. He is a former President/Moderator of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts and remains on the Board of Directors. In 2006, Justice Serna received the Excellence in Jurisprudence award from the University of New Mexico Law Review. In 2009 he was awarded the Thompson G. Marsh Award from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law for “Outstanding Accomplishments.” And, in 2011, he was awarded the Hispanic Native Institute's “Hispanic Hero” award.

Justice Serna graciously served on the IAALS Board of Advisors from our very beginning in 2006 until just last year. Our gratitude for his guidance over the years continues, and we congratulate Justice Serna on this exciting and deserved recognition. A living treasure indeed.