| Mexico’s Senate narrowly passed on Sept.11 (9/11) sweeping changes to the courts that include having judges elected by the public rather than appointed, in a major and controversial set of constitutional reforms. The AMLO reform is the perfect tool to allow Mexico's uber-powerful drug cartels to own law courts in the hinterland and, why not, the Supreme Court. For they too would love to control the judiciary and they have the money to promote their candidates. |
Mexico City, Sept.23.– The approval came hours after hundreds of protesters broke into Mexico's Senate, forcing the body to take a temporary recess. The proposed reforms have led judges and other judicial staff to strike and protest, in what’s become one of Mexico’s biggest constitutional debates in years.
Here are the main things to understand about the reforms and why they are so controversial.
The government vows to root out court corruption.
For nearly a year, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been promoting a plan to remake the federal judiciary and Claudia Sheinbaum, the president-elect, due to take over in October, backs the reforms. Both accuse the courts of gross corruption and say their changes are crucial.
The biggest proposal changes how federal judges are selected. Instead of working their way up the judiciary, the governing party wants them to be elected by popular vote ...
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