It’s hard to say what prompted the New Mexico Supreme Court decision not to take an activist position on the question involving the governor’s appointment of District Judge Albert Mitchell of the 10th Judicial District. Democrat activist Warren Frost, who had allegedly run a smear campaign against Mitchell during Mitchell’s recent retention election, was clearly expecting the fix to be in. Frost showed up and made sort of seat-of-the-pants “argument” (that’s all he apparently figured he needed) that the governor could not appoint Mitchell. However, somewhat surprisingly, the court relied on the actual language of the constitution and ruled against Frost. Some observers suspect the court is being more circumspect as they have recently come under closer scrutiny. Frost, for his part, made disparaging comments about the ruling, and about Judge Mitchell—comments that could land him in hot water with the State Bar.