Judicial Reform as Insurance Policy: Mexico in the 1990s

17. For a detailed examination of the 15 Supreme Court decisions addressing the constitutionality of electoral rules filed under the court's two new constitutional control clauses during Zedillo's sexenio, see Finkel 2003.

18. The invalidation of the governability clause in Quintana Roo applied only to that state, and governability clauses remained on the books of nearly half of Mexico's state legislatures at that time. Had the Supreme Court invalidated the federal electoral code, the ruling would have applied to all states; but because the court was ruling on a state law, the ruling did not affect the law in other states. Challenges to these clauses will have to wait until a new electoral code is passed in the particular state or until the national congress addresses the issue in a modification of the federal electoral code. According to Corso 2000, the unanimous decision in the Quintana Roo case is a clear signal of way the court will rule on these cases in the future.

19. Opposition Congress members charged that Mexico's Union Bank had contributed millions of pesos to the PRI's campaign coffers in 1994 and, in exchange, had their private debt converted into public liabilities as part of a massive government bailout in 1995.

20. The opposition's interests already are to establish a judiciary with greater neutrality and authority; therefore they remain the same in an uncertain environment.

21. The aid, however, addresseed judicial training and not the empowerment of the Mexican Supreme Court. For example, USAID's judicial funding for Mexico was targeted for establishing conferences between U.S. and Mexican judges, designing standards for judicial conduct, creating a pilot program to revamp the criminal justice system, and developing a speakers' program (Ferez 1998).

22. The only other party to have representation in Congress, also on the left side of the political spectrum, was the Workers' Party (PT). All eight of the PT's members voted in favor of the reform.

REFERENCES

Begné, Alberto. 1996. Political Consultant. Author interview. Mexico CiIy, JuIy 14.

Blum, Roberto E. 1997. The Weight of the Past. Journal of Democracy 8, 4 (October): 28-42.

Cornelius, Wayne A., and Ann L. Craig. 1991. The Mexican Political System in Transition. San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California.

Corso, Eclgar. 2000. Councilor to the chief justice of the Mexican Supreme Court. Author interview. Mexico City, June 19.

Cossío, José Ramón. 1998a. Constitutional scholar. Author interview. Mexico City, August 27.

_____. 1998b. Author interview. Mexico City, September 7.

Domingo, Pilar. 2000. Judicial Independence: The Politics of the Supreme Court in Mexico. Journal of Latin American Studies 32, 3 (October): 705-35.

Estrada Samano, Rafael. 1995. Administration of Justice in Mexico: What Does the Future Hold? united States-Mexico Law Journal 3: 35-48.

Finkel, Jodi. 2003. Supreme Court Decisions on Electoral Rules After Mexico's 1994 Judicial Reform: An Empowered Court. Journal of Latin American Studies 35 (November): 1-23.