Mexicans will elect a new judiciary June 1. A look at some of the candidates

MEXICO CITY AP What do an activist searching for missing Mexicans an attorney who once represented a drug lord and a university professor trying out TikTok have in common They are all campaigning for positions in Mexico s first judicial electoral contest on June More than contenders are vying for positions from Mexico s Supreme Court down to district courts across the country In another voting process is planned to elect more judicial positions Those on the June ballots won a lottery after being screened by committees made up of people from the three branches of ruling body In order to qualify they had to have a law degree at least five years of professional practice write an essay and collect letters of recommendation from friends and colleagues Foreign governments including the United States and civil society organizations in Mexico criticized the change warning that it would lead to a politicization of the judiciary and weaken its independence Electing judges was former President Andr s Manuel L pez Obrador s way to root out corruption Make them accountable to the people he reported The contentious improvement s passage was among the last major acts of his presidency last September Here are certain of the candidates Delia Quiroa Age What s she known for She is among the hundreds of Mexicans searching for a missing relative in her situation a brother who disappeared in Candidate for District judge in the western state of Sinaloa Quiroa s experience has been different to greater part other candidates in that she s more accustomed to being on the casualties side After her brother disappeared in the northern demarcation state of Tamaulipas Quiroa began searching and eventually founded a collective called March for the day he vanished She rapidly realized there was little legal help available to help searchers like herself so she left her engineering career and began to inquiry law while continuing her search Quiroa gained notoriety a couple years ago when she proposed criminal groups consider a peace treaty to make it safer to search for the missing and she began selling a Searcher Barbie to raise money for her group s engagements Late last year she decided to return to her native Sinaloa state to compete to be a judge Quiroa knows the risks of being a judge in the violent state home to a powerful cartel of the same name but she noted that there need to be more judges who empathize with those searching for missing loved ones If I become a judge I m not going to send legal documents and wait for leadership to answer when they feel like it Quiroa disclosed I m going to go out and look for the missing people Ar stides Rodrigo Guerrero Age What s he known for He went viral as Justice Pork Rinds Candidate for Supreme Court Until the campaign started Guerrero wasn t well-known outside of Mexico s National Autonomous University where he has taught classes for more than a decade He had also led Mexico City s citizens records agency and worked at the capital s electoral court But it was a homemade TikTok video that took off and launched Guerrero s campaign In it a attendee hands him a platter of a typical pork rind dish Playing on the turn of phrase he says he s more prepared than a pork rind to be a Supreme Court justice before rolling into his qualifications A few grumps accused him of turning the race into a circus but Guerrero commented that his attempt at humor was far less harmful than having a corrupt justice on the highest court You have to be colloquial sometimes in your use of language he declared accepting that he has tried to run a disruptive campaign If elected Guerrero stated that he would push to have the court hold hearings around Mexico to have more contact with people Silvia Delgado Garc a Age What s she known for She represented drug kingpin Joaqu n El Chapo Guzm n in Candidate for Criminal court judge in northern state of Chihuahua Nine years ago Silvia Delgado Garc a was a member of Sinaloa cartel leader Guzm n s legal organization when he was temporarily held in a prison in Ciudad Juarez before being extradited to the United States He was eventually tried convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the U S She s still marked by the matter Particular critics of electing judges and a human rights litigation group called Defensorxs have labeled Delgado Garc a high menace because she defends alleged drug traffickers The group has also identified other candidates that way for being prosecuted being members of investigated organizations for alleged human rights violations and deals with criminal groups Everyone has a right to an effective defense Delgado Garc a explained about her decision to represent Guzm n She notes that she only helped at one hearing where the power went out and her job was to visit him in the Ciudad Juarez prison where he was being held If they give me a client of that magnitude in terms of resume that s going to help me she announced As a candidate she highlights that she has been a litigator for years and has a passion for criminal law I am a citizen who believes in the law and I am extremely prepared to carry out the job and I aim to be impartial in the decisions I hand down Mauricio Tapia Maltos Age What s he known for He s a young lawyer at the Supreme Court who spends his free time campaigning in Mexico City s central square Candidate for An administrative judge for two of Mexico City s boroughs Every afternoon Monday to Thursday Tapia Maltos finishes work at Mexico s Supreme Court where he has worked for years and walks next door to Mexico City s sprawling central square There he sets up a small stand from which he hangs three papers on which he has handwritten his name the position he seeks his social platform handle and his ID number for the ballot Even though he frequently goes unnoticed by the multitude of street vendors tourists and workers traversing the square each day Tapia Maltos dressed in white shirt tie and dark slacks occasionally draws the attention of those curious enough to stop and read his papers Particular then ask how they can vote The simplicity of his campaign is its the greater part noteworthy characteristic I m not trying to make a big production with videos no dancing or anything like that Because what I m trying to do is get to know people in an appropriate way He has worked for years behind the scenes inside the Supreme Court in preparing decisions Now thanks to the new judicial balloting he says that he has determined a way to achieve his dream of being a judge and bring new blood to a judiciary long criticized as corrupt Follow AP s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https apnews com hub latin-america Source