Justice is blind is a common saying in Anglo-American courts. Determined only to carry out the mandate of the law, she does not concern herself with the wealth, political power or station in society of those standing before her.
In the case of many Mexican courts, justice is blind, too, in the most literal sense of the word. In almost 90% of criminal complaints filed by citizens, the guilty parties are never identified by law enforcement officials, or receive little or no punishment when brought before local tribunals with penal jurisdiction.
The striking data, reviewed by news agencies here, is drawn from the 2012 Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción de la Seguridad Pública - the National Survey of of Victimization and Perceptions of Public Security.
The state of Jalisco, regarded by many as the nation's cultural heart, will win no blue ribbons. In the past five years, only 11 of every 100 crimes reported to police resulted in punishment for the offender.
In 2011, the last year with complete statistics available, 87,377 crimes of all types were reported to Jalisco authorities, ranging from petty theft to homicide. Of those, 20,852 made it to the averiguacion previa stage. Under Mexican criminal law, that means someone was arrested and appeared before a magistrate, who determined there was "probable cause" - sufficient legal reason - to formally accuse the suspect and hold him for trial. That event is more or less like a grand jury indictment in the U.S, or a certification for trial after a preliminary hearing (called a "bind over" in American state courts).
But the Achilles Heel of Mexican justice is what happens next. Of the 20,852 Jalisco defendants ordered to stand trial in 2011, only 10,616 were ultimately convicted and sentenced - a conviction rate of 50%. Conviction rates in U.S. state courts are generally at least 80%, and in federal courts - where the most serious crimes are prosecuted - they're usually well over 90%.
The net result in Jalisco is that about 88% of all crimes reported to police in 2011 were never judicially resolved or punished. The numbers got even worse in 2012, when 92% of all crimes were committed "with impunity." In a state where an average of 221 criminal complaints are filed every 24 hours, those stats do nothing to boost citizen confidence in police and the judiciary.
And that may explain the most troubling statistic of all. Althought 87,000 offenses were reported to Jalisco authorities in 2011, the survey disclosed that about a million and half citizens claimed they had been the victim of some type of crime - ranging from the petty to the very serious. The obvious conclusion is that a mere 6% of all Jalisco victims bothered to report what had happened to them.
The problem, common throughout Mexico, is one more homework assignment awaiting the already overburdened Enrique Peña Nieto.
Feb. 4 - Jalisco has recorded at least 122 homicides since Jan. 1, 95 of which were organized crime executions. Among the victims were five police officers and a soldier. The state prosecutor says that competing regional and national drug cartels and crime gangs are "heating up the plaza."
Feb. 6 - Two lynched in Edomex, as Mexicans resort to self-help
Feb. 4 - Spanish tourists raped, robbed on Acapulco beach front
Feb. 1 - Security is so poor in Guerrero state that locals have formed civilian police forces
Oct. 31 - Mexican Supreme Court hands landmark legal victory to woman almost killed by boyfriend
Jan. 8 - More attacks on Jalisco police
Jan. 20 - Narco executions continue in the heart of Guadalajara
Jan. 23 - No justice for Mexicans in Florence Cassez ruling
Jan. 28 - Anybody can die in Mexico's drug war - anybody
Jan. 30 - All the familiar weapons used in latest assassination of Jalisco police chief
Jan. 30 - RCMP criminal affidavit lends strong support to Mexico's case against Cynthia Ann Vanier
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