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Content: Priests and military officers could no longer change the venue
        of trials for civil of-fenses to the ecclesiastical or military courts. Sinkin argues that the law accepted the basic corporate structure
        of society and did not abolish the entire fuero system since the church
        courts retained the right to hear criminal cases. As the first of
        the Reform Laws, the Ley Juarez was approved as part of the Constitution
        of 1857. LEY LERDO, a Mexican law disamortizing church property, named for
      Miguel LERDO DE TEJADA, its principal author. The law was promulgated 25
      June 1856, while Lerdo served as finance minister for President Ignacio
      COMONFORT. It declared that civil and ecclesiastical corporations,
      such as the Catholic church and local and state governments, would be prohibited
      from owning real property not directly used in everyday operations. The
      church could retain its sanctuaries, monasteries, convents, and seminaries,
      and local and state governments their offices, jails, and schools,
      but both had to sell all other urban and rural real estate. Tenants were
      given preference during the first three months the law would be in effect,
      and the annual rent was considered as 6 percent of the value of the property
      for sale. The government would collect a 5 percent tax on these sales. The law prohibited civil and ecclesiastical corporations from acquiring
      property in the future, but it did not confiscate their wealth.