Rule of Law: Mexico judges rule that Frenchwoman not be freed

Boston.com: "A Supreme Court panel voted Wednesday not to free a Frenchwoman who says she was unjustly sentenced to 60 years in prison for kidnapping in a case that has put Mexico's troubled justice system on trial and become a cause celebre in France.

The case of Florence Cassez has strained relations between the countries and it is also the center of a vigorous debate between Mexicans who say she was abused by the criminal justice system and those who say setting her free would only reinforce a sense that crimes such as kidnapping go unpunished.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has repeatedly called for Cassez to be freed, while Mexican President Felipe Calderon has urged the court panel to uphold justice for victims." read more

Rule of Law: Mexico Court Says Convicted French Kidnapper's Rights Violated

Wall Street Journal: "A French woman convicted of kidnapping in Mexico could get a new trial after Mexico's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that her constitutional rights were violated by police who staged her arrest for television cameras.

But justices also ruled that Florence Cassez, 37 years old, would have to stay in prison until the court comes up with a legal formula to review her case.

The Cassez case is one of Mexico's most explosive criminal cases in decades and is seen as an overall trial of Mexico's legal system, widely regarded as opaque, and riddled with corruption and practices like torture which defy the rule of law." read more