When Gómez Farías first came into power, all of Anastasio Bustamante’s former ministers went into hiding, with the exception of Rafael Mangino, the former minister of the treasury. A tribunal was formed to judge former members of the Bustamante administration. On June 23, 1833, amidst insurrections flaring up all over the country, the congress passed a law, the so-called Ley del Caso authorizing the arrest and exile for six years of fifty one individuals considered enemies of the government among them, ex-president Bustamante, Mariano Michelena, Zenon Fernandez, Francisco Molinos del Campo, Jose Maria Gutierrez Estrada, and Miguel Santa María. Santa Maria published a pamphlet criticizing the government for filling the prisons with political dissidents. The Ley del Caso was passed against the opposition of Gómez Farías who wished to be more moderate with his opposition. He was also opposed to the death penalty for political offenses.
