Richardson orders flags at half-staff for Cano-Garcia

Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered flags to fly at half-staff in honor of former District Judge Silvia Cano-Garcia, who died Monday following a long battle with cancer.

Flags have been flying at half-staff outside the district courthouse in Las Cruces all week. Richardson has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff Thursday and Friday.

Here’s the text of Richardson’s order:

EXECUTIVE ORDER 2006-056

FLAGS FLOWN AT HALF STAFF IN HONOR OF

THE HONORABLE SILVIA CANO-GARCIA

WHEREAS, The Honorable Silvia Cano-Garcia, age 44, passed away on Monday, September 4, 2006, after a hard-fought battle with cancer;

WHEREAS, State District Court Judge Cano-Garcia was born and raised in Mesilla, New Mexico;

WHEREAS, Judge Cano-Garcia graduated from Las Cruces High School and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University in 1982 and a law degree from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1987. She was a Fulbright scholar who studied international relations in Germany from 1982 to 1983. She was also an accomplished pianist;

WHEREAS, Judge Cano-Garcia was sworn in as a district judge in January 2003 after being appointed by then-Governor Johnson. The Governor had appointed her less than two years earlier to a judgeship on the Dona Ana County Magistrate Court; and

WHEREAS, Judge Cano-Garcia is survived by her husband Reynaldo Garcia and their daughter Marisol.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Bill Richardson, Governor of the State of New Mexico, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the Laws of the State of New Mexico, do hereby order that all flags be flown at half-staff from Thursday, September 7, 2006, until sundown on Friday, September 8, 2006, in honor and mourning of the Honorable Silvia Cano-Garcia. The thoughts and prayers of the people of New Mexico go out to her family as well as a heartfelt thank you for her service to New Mexico.