Recent reform in the Mexican justice system continues to garner national interest. Reforms to the system, as well as efforts by MacArthur grantee Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos (ASILEGAL) to support and enforce them through litigation, were the focus of a two-part series by the national television agency Televisa. The stories feature interviews with staff at ASILEGAL, which provides legal assistance to indigenous people who often face unfair treatment in the criminal justice system. ASILEGAL's work has led to the freeing of several unjustly held prisoners in Guerrero prisons. Most recently, their efforts helped free Roberto Pastrana Reyes, who was held in preventive detention for more than five years without formal sentencing despite the maximum term under the Constitution being two years.
