In this paper, I take George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's thesis that metaphors shape our reality to approach the judicial imagery of the new criminal justice system in Mexico (in effect since 2016). Based on twenty-nine in-depth interviews with judges and other members of the judiciary, I study what I call the ‘dirty minds’ metaphor, showing its presence in everyday judicial practice and analysing both its cognitive basis as well as its effects in how criminal judges understand their job. I argue that the such a metaphor, together with the ‘fear of contamination’ it raises as a result, is misleading and goes to the detriment of the judicial virtues that should populate the new system. The conclusions I offer are relevant beyond the national context, inter alia, because they concern a far-reaching paradigm of judgment.

中文翻译：

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隐喻法官的生活：墨西哥新刑事司法系统中的“肮脏思想”和“对污染的恐惧”

在本文中，我采用 George Lakoff 和 Mark Johnson 的论文，即隐喻塑造我们的现实来探讨墨西哥新刑事司法系统的司法形象（自 2016 年起生效）。基于对法官和其他司法人员的 29 次深入访谈，我研究了我所谓的“肮脏的头脑”隐喻，展示了它在日常司法实践中的存在，并分析了它的认知基础以及它对如何处理的影响。刑事法官了解他们的工作。我认为，这样的比喻，连同由此引发的“对污染的恐惧”，具有误导性，并损害了新制度中应有的司法美德。我提供的结论与国家背景无关，尤其是因为它们涉及一种影响深远的判断范式。