Justice Yasmín Esquivel
Photo:
Servicio Universal Noticias/Zuma Press
Move over,
George Santos.
When it comes to credential spinning, allegations of plagiarism against Mexican Supreme Court Justice
Yasmín Esquivel
make the New York congressman-elect look like a piker.
On Dec. 21, journalist
Guillermo Sheridan,
writing for the Mexican news outlet Latinus, accused Justice Esquivel of plagiarizing the thesis she presented in 1987 to complete her law studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM. Mr. Sheridan didn’t make the charge lightly. He served up screen shots from the UNAM archives to show her work and the thesis of another student from a year earlier. The two papers had almost identical titles and long segments of the text were practically the same, including typos.
The Esquivel matter is front and center in Mexico because the 11 members of the Supreme Court are set to hold an internal vote on Monday to choose the body’s next president. Until now, Justice Esquivel had been a front runner. If substantiated, the claims that she committed intellectual piracy to get her law degree not only call into question her fitness to head the Supreme Court for a four-year term, but whether she belongs in the judiciary at all.
The president of the Mexican court is a high-powered post. Whoever lands it next will have enormous capacity either to return the judicial branch to its traditional independence or continue in the direction of bowing to the intimidation tactics of President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
It’s no exaggeration to say that, in this vote, the separation of powers so vital to democracy is at stake.
Mr. Santos has admitted to “embellishing” his résumé with lies about his employment history and religious background. Unless his actions are found to be criminal, it’s likely he’ll be sworn in as…
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