Mexico’s high court tosses law on policing by military

Mexico’s Supreme Court has invalidated a controversial law signed last year that created a legal framework for the military to work in a policing role in much of the country.

The court determined Thursday that the measure was unconstitutional because it attempted to normalize the use of the armed forces in public safety.

Deep-rooted corruption and ineffectiveness among local and state police forces has led Mexico to rely heavily on the military to combat drug cartels in parts of the country.

But military commanders have long expressed an uneasiness about what was essentially an open-ended policing mission. The armed forces have been implicated in a number of human rights abuse cases.

On Wednesday, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced a security plan that would also lean on the military.

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