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Metaphors judges live by: ‘dirty minds’ and the ‘fear of contamination’ in the new criminal justice system in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2021

Adriana Alfaro Altamirano Open the ORCID record for Adriana Alfaro Altamirano [Opens in a new window]
Adriana Alfaro Altamirano*
Affiliation:
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Mexico
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper, I take George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's thesis that metaphors shape our reality to approach the judicial imagery of the new criminal justice system in Mexico (in effect since 2016). Based on twenty-nine in-depth interviews with judges and other members of the judiciary, I study what I call the ‘dirty minds’ metaphor, showing its presence in everyday judicial practice and analysing both its cognitive basis as well as its effects in how criminal judges understand their job. I argue that the such a metaphor, together with the ‘fear of contamination’ it raises as a result, is misleading and goes to the detriment of the judicial virtues that should populate the new system. The conclusions I offer are relevant beyond the national context, inter alia, because they concern a far-reaching paradigm of judgment.

Keywords

criminal lawmetaphor and narrativejudicial impartialitycriminal justice reformMexico
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 512 - 528
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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