Mexico’s Supreme Court holds its first session outside Mexico City, in Chiapas

TENEJAPA, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court held its first session outside its neoclassical building in Mexico City Thursday in a mountain town in the southern state of Chiapas, the start of its plan to bring the country’s highest court to far-flung corners of the country.

Under a tent in the central square of Tenejapa, some 2,000 people listened to the court’s deliberations.

Under a constitutional reform, the court’s justices were popularly elected last year for the first time. Its chief justice is Hugo Aguilar, an Indigenous lawyer from the neighboring state of Oaxaca.

“Often in our communities we only feel the effects of a decision” taken far away, Aguilar said Thursday. Now, the goal is “that you see how we deliberate, that you know what we say, how we consider and make a decision.”

Some of those present, Indigenous leaders and authorities, held signs that said “right to self-determination.” Others just came to listen and be part of a historic moment.

“It makes me happy that this new minister (Aguilar) comes out to the towns, to cities to carry out justice because we really need to listen to the people,” said María de la Cruz Velasco, president of a foundation that helps victims of femicide.

Among those present were members of the community La Candelaria, in the municipality of San Cristobal de las Casas, which has been demanding self-rule for years. The case made it to the Supreme Court and was one of the issues discussed Thursday.

The court’s sessions can often be tedious and difficult for anyone outside the legal profession to follow, but Indigenous people and victims of violence have traditionally had an ally in the court. It has usually defended human rights with a progressive perspective even though some of the sentences handed down have not always been carried out.

Velasco recalled that when her daughter was killed, local courts did not want to classify the crime as a femicide, but the Supreme Court finally decided that it was not a normal homicide because it had a gender dimension. “Today my daughter’s (killer) is serving 55 years in prison,” she said.

This court is the first elected by the people and the argument for doing so was in part to make it more responsive and accountable. The idea was widely criticized for politicizing Mexico’s highest court. The turnout for the election was extremely low and the candidates tied to the governing party overwhelmingly won seats.

But on Thursday in Tenejapa, nestled in the mountains of Chiapas, that controversy was not discussed. There was gratitude that the court had come to them.

Chiapas State Indigenous attend a Mexico Supreme Court special session in Tenejapa, Chiapas State, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

Mexico's Supreme Court President Hugo Aguilar, center, greets Indigenous authorities upon his arrival for a special session in Tenejapa, Chiapas State, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

Chiapas State Indigenous attend Mexico Supreme Court special session in Tenejapa, Chiapas State, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

Members of the Mexican Supreme Court, Lenia Batres, from left, Hugo Aguilar and Yasmin Esquivel attend a special session with Indigenous communities of Chiapas State in Tenejapa, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Gerard appeared to clip a bird with a tee shot. David Ford spent a few minutes in the mud, then went about an hour without using his putter.

Round 1 of the Cognizant Classic had some weirdness Thursday.

It looked like Gerard hit a bird on the 207-yard, par-3 seventh hole; replays showed feathers in the air as his shot made its way to the hole, after the bird flew into the path of the ball shortly after Gerard made contact.

It wasn't clear if the bird was injured. Gerard's approach came to rest about 35 feet from the hole and the highest-ranked player in the field — No. 26 in the world — went on make a two-putt par.

Ford had a lot of adventures.

He started on the back nine and was 1 over when he got to the par-3 17th, his eighth hole of the day. His tee shot headed toward the water, came to rest in the mud, and he tried to play from there up a hill toward the green.

The shot made it halfway up, then rolled back to the mud. He tried again. Same thing. Enough was enough; he walked back to the drop area and wound up making a quadruple-bogey 7.

“My brain was instantly going towards one bad hole can’t do too much damage to me if I play great the rest of the way coming in, and if my game is good enough to win, then it should be no problem to have a good finish,” Ford said. “Even with a quad.”

The power of positive thinking.

He got those four shots back in two holes, with back-to-back eagles on the par-4 second and par-5 third — part of three consecutive holes where he holed out from off the green. Ford connected from 144 yards out on No. 2, chipped in from about 30 yards on No. 3, then holed a bunker shot to save par at No. 4 after leaving his previous shot in the same bunker.

“It was insane ... a wild round,” Ford said.

Ford finished at 1-over 72. Gerard shot a 2-over 73.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Adam Scott, from Australia, left, shakes hands with Ryan Gerard after finishing the first round of the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)