this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
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Mexico is poised to amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected as part of a judicial overhaul championed by the outgoing president but slammed by critics as a blow to the country’s rule of law.

The amendment passed Mexico’s Congress on Wednesday, and by Thursday it already had been ratified by the required majority of the country’s 32 state legislatures. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would sign and publish the constitutional change on Sunday.

Legal experts and international observers have said the move could endanger Mexico’s democracy by stacking courts with judges loyal to the ruling Morena party, which has a strong grip on both Congress and the presidency after big electoral wins in June.

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[–] nevemsenki 101 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Speedrunning populism, let's see how that goes. Cartels electing judges is my bet.

[–] WhatAmLemmy 69 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

If that's the case then the Cartels already elect/make most of the politicians — whom select the judges — so there's not really much of a difference, is there?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes there is. You need the entire country for national elections and there is one government from one parliament. You might have the same on state level, where interference is easier. But you need thousands of judges in thousands of districts. That will become very easy to interfere with.

But a corrupted muncipal parliament does not have the saem effect, like a corrupted judge, who can let his buddies off free, while imprisoning journalists and other critical dissidents against the cartels.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

like a corrupted judge, who can let his buddies off free

US "judge" Cannon enters the chat.

[–] FrowingFostek 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I just like the idea of a corrupt judge, in the US, getting primaried by a working class person. Obviously, with the correct counsil, if elected.

I want to believe those are the kinds of people this legislation is designed to support, in a perfect system.

If not, its just more fluff to jam up and backlog the beurocracy.

How it will play out is another story. Maybe Mexico will try it out.

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[–] [email protected] 75 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

There seems to be something contradictory about the idea that letting people elect judges endangers democracy. If you don't trust the people to elect judges, how can you trust them to elect the people who appoint judges?

[–] [email protected] 43 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Electing judges is stupid. Judges should be neutral and uphold the current laws. It is up to the elected parties / president / groups to make sure all Judges are neutral. If you can vote on Judges that mean they have a political power that has nothing to do with their job.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

US Supreme Court Justices are not elected. They make a lot of political decisions beyond just upholding the status quo. There are a lot of US states that have judicial elections and they don’t have major crises because of it.

[–] slickgoat 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Don't kid yourself, the US Supreme Court is balls deep in politics. The situation where political parties can essentially buy a Supreme Court result for life is a disgraceful situation. That's why the US is in such a terrible mess. Justice is not served, politics is.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (25 children)

My point is precisely that the US Supreme Court is embroiled in politics. The notion that being appointed somehow insulates the justices from politics is absurd.

Elections at least create some semblance of accountability to the voters.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Almost a lot? So a big few?

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Just look at the US Supreme Court's recent rulings and tell me that's a healthy judicial system. I'd rather have the ability to vote for a judge, but more importantly, we need to have a system in place that can more easily impeach them should their actions not reflect the will of the people.

[–] njm1314 8 points 3 weeks ago

No matter what your system is it all comes down to the real key of democracy. That is society having a respect for democracy and the rule of law. If your Society doesn't have an innate desire for a just system you're not going to have a justice system no matter what system you use. It's not a tangible thing it's something that has to be created over time. Elected judges or appointed judges, there's deep flaws to both concepts.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

What many democracies around the world are missing is greater recallability in offices. Citizens need to be able to easily oust people nonviolently.

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[–] rottingleaf 15 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Judges are not supposed to work for the majority. They are supposed to work for justice.

Justice in most cases means opposing political power (formal in this case).

Thus they should be selected in some way radically different from how political power is formed.

Sortition is one way, if you don't want some entrenched faction reproducing itself. Would be better than US too. But still sortition from the pool of qualified people, that is, judges, and not just every random bloke who applies, of course.

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[–] slickgoat 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I disagree. All that does is turn judges into politicians. The US Supreme court isn't elected, but selected by politicians. Keep politics as far as you possibly can from people with an interest in gaming the system.

[–] LotrOrc 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And look what has happened to the US supreme court in the last few years... That seems to completely disagree with your point. It has been stacked with very partisan judges by politicians looking to game the system

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

The thing is that the candidates for judges will be chosen by commitees from "the 3 powers" which are, basically, under controll of MORENA.

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[–] KillerTofu 46 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Is it worse than having judges appointed for life?

[–] [email protected] 73 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

Probably. You're now going to have judges raising money to campaign. And the average on-the-street voter knows fuck-all about what qualifies somebody to be a judge, so they're unlikely to pick better candidates.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

What qualifies someone to be a judge is simply redefined to be what is popular. A judge should therefore no longer follow the law, but make the ruling most in line with what is popular. Under a voting system that is the sole qualifier.

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[–] Stern 48 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

No system is 100% resistant to shitters.

Life appointment was supposed to get judges to focus on issues and not make decisions with re-election in mind. Supreme court in the U.S. has shown us how that is going.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Not necessarily. In Canada, an independent advisory board reviews applications and provides a shortlist of candidates. The Prime Minister selects a nominee from this list. The nominee may participate in a public hearing before being officially appointed.

That is why it has not been a partisan issue so far.

[–] FrostyTheDoo 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The way US politics has gone the last 30 years, the advisory board would be politicized and polarized within 3 election cycles, no matter how the board itself is selected.

[–] Womble 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Thats a problem with political appointments by the president not life terms.

[–] Stern 11 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Federal appointments still have to be approved, and even with SCOTUS they can still get rejected, e.g. Bork

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork_Supreme_Court_nomination

Thomas was close to rejection too owing to Anita Hill's testimony

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas_Supreme_Court_nomination

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[–] FlyingSquid 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You can have judges appointed and term limit them. It's not an either/or.

[–] Jaderick 8 points 3 weeks ago

IIRC before these changes take affect, Mexico’s President appoints (at least supreme) court judges who have tenure for 15 years. The ruling party is arguing for these changes to combat corruption. Rumor is that the Mexican legal system is corrupt af, and I haven’t seen any alternatives proposed by the opposition in (English) coverage of the protests, but we’ll see how electing judges goes I guess.

[–] paf0 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I would prefer appointments approved by Congress with both term limits and a maximum age. Judges should have minimal political incentive.

[–] Cosmonauticus 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Wouldn't that just make it partisan? The only way any system of appointing judges can work is if its all done in good faith. Considering the corruption in Mexico you seem fucked either way. Not that America is any better.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Depends on who will elect them and how the voting process works.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 weeks ago

This doesn't seem like a great idea, if you ask me

[–] zik 28 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (6 children)

Having elected officials makes sense for politicians since their job is to represent the interests of the people but it's terrible for other types of public office.

What do you want from a judge or a sheriff? Someone who's experienced and competent. Who can best judge that? Would it be the hierarchy of their peers who they work with every day or would it be random members of the public who've barely even heard of them?

Edit: and no, I'm not suggesting political appointments. That's also a recipe for disaster. Do it like Commonwealth countries: make the civil service independent of the political process and make appointments be part of the usual process of promotion.

[–] febra 19 points 3 weeks ago

Having them be appointed by politicians isn't making much sense either. It's not a secret that many judges have their own political affiliations since they often get appointed with support from different political factions (see the supreme court in the US). In theory, you're right. In practice, it doesn't always work that way.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

So, the judges will have to campaign on the issues? Doesn't seem like the best idea if you want neutral and unbiased judges.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Like the unbiased judges appointed by politicians?

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil 6 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

Do you want neutral judges or do you want judges that align with the popular view?

John Roberts spent his confirmation process convincing everyone he was a "neutral" balls and strikes judge. All his opinions are phrased to imply he is taking a rational and fact based approach to the law. Yet his decisions are all in favor of hard right positions.

Do you want a judge like that? Or do you want an "activist" judge that respects unions, defends abortion rights and voting rights, and curtails the power of private industry to subvert democracy?

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

It is interesting how easily the article passes off 'stacking courts' as more of a danger with elections than appointments.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

I feel like there should be a first line of defense, so you don't get charismatic idiots. Like some hard test and only the top 20 % scorers can campaign.

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[–] demizerone 16 points 3 weeks ago

It would be hilarious if America became the corpo plague lands and Mexico became the land of the living and Americans tried to cross into Mexico but the border wall Biden built was too impenetrable.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I don't get the social dynamic that would eventually bring the party to elect only the candidates loyal to the party. For real, here in Italy we've got a great issue of nepotism and this reform would probably bring fresh air to a corrupt and inefficient elite

Almost surely not everyone will be able to candidate themselves, some kind of degree or qualitification must be a minimum requrement

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