Morena Opposes Cap and Gown at Supreme Court of Justice

This article by Andrea Becerril and Georgina Saldierna appeared in the June 12, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier leftist daily newspaper.

Senators from Morena and allied parties presented a bill to the Permanent Commission that eliminates the mandatory use of the cap and gown for Supreme Court justices, with the goal of “eradicating symbols” of remoteness and elitism from the country’s highest court.

The initiative was presented by Morena senators Laura Estrada Mauro and Antonino Morales, and Luis Alfonso Silva Romo of the PVEM (Green Party), who propose amending Article 4 of the Organic Law of the Federal Judiciary, which currently establishes that during sessions, ministers must wear black silk robes and white cuffs, in accordance with a decree in force since 1941.

The reform, the Oaxacan senators explain in their explanatory statement, aims to require ministers to dress in a formal or traditional manner, “in accordance with their origins, customs, and preferences.”

The new Supreme Court must reflect closeness to the people and address historical injustices, they emphasize.

“The people freely decided, through their vote, to elect the justices of the Supreme Court. It’s time for justice to also be represented, in its form, in its image, as an institution that answers to the people.”

Senator Morales noted that the fact that the new Supreme Court will be presided over by Hugo Aguilar, an indigenous jurist from Oaxaca, represents a historic change and an opportunity to strengthen the rights of the country’s indigenous peoples and communities.

In this context, he maintained that “the judicial robe is a symbol of the justice system of the past, that of privilege and elitism,” and therefore should be discontinued. “The justice system that is beginning must be clothed in the garb of our people, the simple, hardworking people of the countryside and the city.”