Senate picks new supreme court justice
The senate's justice and legislative studies committee interviewed the three shortlisted candidates nominated by President Felipe Calderón for a seat on the supreme court on 8 February. This latest shortlist was entirely male, while the first shortlist, from which the senate failed to make a selection, was all female.
The senate picked Jorge Mario Pardo Rebolledo. He had been up for the supreme court twice before, most recently in November 2009, but failed to win the senate's approval. Interestingly, his area of legal expertise is the role of the supreme court. His most significant legal case was his successful defence of Othón Cortes, who had been accused of firing the second shot which killed the Partido Revolucionario Institucional's presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, in March 1994. Pardo Rebolledo also produced the official report in what happened at San Salvador Atenco in May 2006, when state police moved in on flower sellers. At least two people were killed and dozens of women raped. The report detailed what had happened but did not lead to prosecution of senior officials.
If the senate had not chosen Pardo Rebolledo, President Calderón could have nominated a new candidate, without any senate vetting, to the supreme court.