Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States… but just what does it mean to be a territory? U.S. Territories: A History The United… Read More »What Does It Mean to Be a Territory of the United States?
The short answer: the United States won Puerto Rico in a war. From the landing of Columbus in 1492 until 1898, Puerto Rico was a… Read More »How Did Puerto Rico Become a U.S. Territory?
Much has been written about the boycott of the 2017 plebiscite by the Puerto Rico Popular Democratic Party (PPD), which is unrelated to the U.S.… Read More »The Truth Behind the Boycott over “Commonwealth”
The ballot for the 2017 status referendum held in Puerto Rico originally informed voters that future U.S. citizenship was guaranteed only under statehood. The Department… Read More »How to Guarantee U.S. Citizenship: Statehood and the U.S. Constitution
The United States Supreme Court has rendered a decision on Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, the case that asked whether a conviction in a Puerto… Read More »The Supreme Court Confirms That Puerto Rico Is A Territory, Lacks “Power, Dignity and Authority” of a State
Harvard Law Today, a popular blog of Harvard Law School, has published a summary of the recent conference that examined the Insular Cases, a series of… Read More »Reconsidering the Insular Cases
Federal legislation to authorize a plebiscite in Puerto Rico on statehood, on nationhood, or on both — but not on “Commonwealth” — was signed into… Read More »Plebiscite on Statehood, Nationhood, or Both, Not “Commonwealth,” Now U.S. Law
On July 25, Puerto Rico observes the anniversary of its local self-government. On that day in 1952, Governor Luis Muñoz Marin formally proclaimed a Constitution for the island,… Read More »The 1952 Puerto Rico Constitution: A New “Commonwealth” in Name Only
Trick question. Puerto Rico is already a part of the United States in the sense that it belongs to the United States. The question is… Read More »Should Puerto Rico Be Part of the United States?
