The INE in the eye of the hurricane (and not for the first time)
Now it turns out that 26 candidates for judges and magistrates in Mexico have more red flags than a narcissist’s Tinder profile. The presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, Sergio Gutiérrez Luna and the always controversial Fernández Noroña (yes, the one with the memes), issued to the INE a challenge that seems like a list of soap opera villains: sexual abuse, organized crime, embezzlement… Surely this is a judicial selection process or the casting of La Casa de los Famosos?
The requirements: “enjoy a good reputation” (and other jokes)
According to articles 95 and 97 of the Constitution (which almost no one reads, but everyone cites), to be a judge you need two things: 1) an average of 8 in your bachelor’s degree (spoiler: several did not even have that) and 2) “enjoy a good reputation.” Among the candidates there is everything: from a guy accused of forced disappearance of a journalist to a judge who freed drug traffickers as if she were handing out candy. Good reputation? More like a dubious reputation, like that ex who ghosted you and then appeared on Bumble.
Gutiérrez Luna, in “not to be dramatic, but…” mode, stressed that the popular election is not a free pass to skip ethical requirements. In other words, voting for someone does not exempt them from being a walking disaster. Or do you think that judicial impartiality is measured in likes?
The “neither-nor” academics: neither an 8 average nor ethics
Of the 26 candidates, 8 failed the most basic test: having a decent average. Their grades ranged from 7.0 to 7.93 (yes, even that was mediocre). “It’s not a procedure, it’s a minimum parameter,” said Gutiérrez Luna, because apparently some believed that justice was like passing with a 6. Imagine a surgeon who was scratched? Well, just as scary.
And here’s the plot twist: several of those named were already in judicial positions. In other words, the system had already let them through before. How did Norona say? *“Ah, but that does seem strange to them”*. Among the names are:
- Fernando Escamilla Villareal: drug lawyer (because what better resume for a judge, right?).
- Diana Monserrat Partida: the judge who released drug traffickers as if it were happy hour.
- Francisco Martín Hernández: accused of sexual abuse (because nothing says “impartiality” like a gender crime).
The INE now has to decide whether to cancel these records or continue the game of “who is who?” but in a corruption version. Meanwhile, citizens are left with the same question: At what point did justice become a poorly told joke?
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Note: No judges were harmed during the writing of this text… although perhaps they should have been.
