It is highly plausible that a woman, Minister Norma Lucía Piña Hernández, was elected to the presidency of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. She is the first female to reach that position in two centuries of the existence of the highest court, but it must be clear that she was not chosen for gender reasons, but because of her abilities, amply demonstrated throughout her career. in the judiciary.
In the 200 years of the Court’s existence, only 14 women have been able to be ministers. The reason is that the female sex has historically been deprived of rights. It was not until 1961 when a woman was elected as minister of the SCJN for the first time. She was Cristina Salmorán de Tamayo from Oaxaca, who, by the way, used the last name of her husband, who did not shine more than her spouse, but it was a time when women were undervalued in many and diverse ways and, on occasions, they themselves helped to legitimize this contempt.
Fortunately, such miseries are remaining in the past, which we owe to a large extent to the push of the feminist movement, but also to the individual struggle of numerous women who have come to stand out for their intelligence and their own effort, as is the case of Mrs. Norma Piña, who is used to thinking with her own head, as shown by her independence of criteria in delicate or frowned upon matters, as in the case of legislative reforms made by steam or by the mere whim of the boss or, well (badly), regarding abortion, LGBTQ+ couples and recreational marijuana use, issues rejected by both conservatives Y neoliberals as by the leader of the fourtheistic government.
But the exemplary performance of Dr. Piña Hernández has unfolded in various settings. Colleague Ivonne Melgar wrote that in November of last year, the minister spoke before a group of newly appointed judges, to whom she asked: “What is behind this significant day? How many hours of study, how many sleepless nights? What juggling were invented to study and not stop taking care of their daughters and sons, their parents? Who was your support network to get you here today? How many of you were haunted by guilt, that guilt that doesn’t let us women go, even though we know it shouldn’t be there?
Ivonne Melgar adds that “some judges cried when they heard the emotional speech in which the minister spoke of the systematic and structural exclusion of women in the Judiciary and the still endless challenge of daily overcoming the imbalance in the balance between work and family”. I see them and I see myself, said Doña Norma, because the now president of the Court knows what a life of sacrifices is and the inner strength that a career in this macho and misogynistic world requires.
Norma Piña was eight years old when she lost her father, and her mother, a normal teacher, was in charge of supporting her three daughters. As is still the norm, Norma Lucía studied at the National School of Teachers to work in education and thus sustain her law studies, which she successfully completed until obtaining her doctorate in 1988, after which she entered as a project secretary for the third Administrative Collegiate Court of the First Circuit.
Four years later she became Secretary of Study and Account of the Court and in 1998 she held the third district court of Morelos by opposition. After two years she returned to the capital of the country as a judge of the fifth District Court in Administrative Matters and in the same year 2000 she became a circuit magistrate by opposition and in 2015 she was elected minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. which he now presides over.
In short, he has the preparation and experience necessary to play a brilliant role. For this reason, it is unacceptable for President López Obrador to say that with it there will be no reform of the Judiciary, because he “has always voted against the Executive’s initiatives.” Yes, and what is expected is that he rejects any initiative that contravenes his convictions and legal knowledge, but that does not disqualify her from leading the great reform that the judiciary urgently requires. We’ll see.
