Mexico will amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected

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Mexico will amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected
apnews.com

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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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.

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.

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.

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

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

But the vast majority of the time they are approved, and the nomination begins with politicians. Contrast this to the way the UK does it where the appointments come from the senior judges with politicians then approving or rejecting the proposed new member.

Bork was nothing compared to Harriet Miers. Probably the least qualified person ever nominated to SCOUTS.

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

And yet very possibly not the worst person nominated for that specific vacancy.

Samuel Alito, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, was nominated four days after her withdrawal and subsequently confirmed.

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