This Friday, October 7th, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider our petition for certiorari in Fitisemanu v. United States asking «whether the Insular Cases should be overruled.»

Tomorrow, I’ll be joining distinguished colleagues from other territories to talk about the Insular Cases and the broad impact their colonial framework has today on the 3.6 million people who live in these areas.

See below for more details. I hope you can join!https://www.elnuevodia.com/videos/joebidenvoyapuertoricoporquenohansidoatendidosmuybien-video-279441/

Regards,

Neil Weare

President & Founder

Equally American
http://www.equalrightsnow.org/

Microjuris, Equally American and Latino Justice PRLDEF present:

Insular Cases: «Odious and wrong». Voices from the Territories

Release from MicroJuris.com:

While Puerto Rico faces the hit of another natural disaster after Hurricane Fiona, the so-called “Insular Cases” doctrine is once again knocking on the doors of the United States Supreme Court. Once more, the highest US Court is asked to consider revoking the jurisprudential framework that, since 1901, has established that the territories and their inhabitants deserve different treatment, fewer rights and fewer constitutional protections than those born in or residing in the States. The new case is Fitisemanu vs. United States, and this time, the issue is whether people born in U.S. territories have a constitutional right to be recognized as U.S. citizens. The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a petition for certiorari in Fitisemanu asking “whether the Insular Cases should be overruled” during its October 7th preivate conference.

Although the situation of each territory is different, according to the conditions of the treaties by which they were acquired and certain historical developments, there is common ground among the Territories’ plight. The Insular Cases are the constitutional infrastructure on which the unequal treatment we see nowadays in contexts such as: disaster recovery, bankruptcies of government entities, Congressional representation, tax matters, civil rights, benefits from federal programs, among others, is built.

“Microjuris, in its mission to make legal debate accessible to everyone, has joined forces with Equally American and Latino Justice PRLDEF, organizations that have consistently worked to address these challenges and revoke this progeny of cases. By uniting the voices of all the territories, we create an opportunity to evaluate the complexities of the Insular Cases and the dimensions in which they impact the life and rights of the people who are born and live in the territories today, from a non-partisan, human rights perspective,” explained Ataveyra Medina Hernandez, moderator of the panel, and CEO at Microjuris.

The organizations will participate in a panel entitled ‘Insular Cases: «Odious and wrong». Voices from the Territories’ that will take place next Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 7:00 pm Eastern time on the Microjuris Facebook channel (noon in American Samoa, Thursday, October 6th at 9am in Guam/CNMI).

The panelists will be: Neil Weare from Guam and Charles Ala’ilima from American Samoa, both represent the plaintiffs in the Fitisemanu case; the Hon. Sheila Babauta, who serves in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives; Lía Fiol Matta, from Puerto Rico who is Senior counsel at Latino Justice PRLDEF; and Brian Modeste, Director of Insular Affairs at the House Natural Resources Committee in the United States House of Representatives.

The event is free and open to the public and media, and can be viewed at https://fb.me/e/1YctpuaYG. 

En Espanol:

En medio del manejo de los embates del más reciente desastre natural en Puerto Rico, la llamada doctrina de los “casos insulares” vuelve a tocar las puertas del Tribunal Supremo de Estados Unidos. Una vez más, se le solicita al más alto foro judicial estadounidense que considere revocar el andamiaje jurisprudencial que, desde el 1901, ha establecido que los territorios y sus habitantes merecen trato distinto, menos derechos y menos protecciones constitucionales.

El nuevo caso es Fitisemanu vs. Estados Unidos, y en esta ocasión, el planteamiento es sobre trato desigual en asuntos de ciudadanía para personas nacidas en Samoa Americana el Tribunal Supremo de Estados Unidos considerará desde el 7 de octubre el pedido de Certiorari que solicita la revocación de los casos insulares.

A pesar de que la situación de cada territorio es distinta, de acuerdo a las condiciones de los tratados por los que fueron adquiridos y ciertos desarrollos históricos, hay unos lugares comunes. Los casos insulares, son la infraestructura constitucional sobre la que se basan tratos desiguales que vemos en contextos muy conocidos por todos y en tiempos recientes como lo son: la recuperación de desastres, quiebras de entidades gubernamentales, representación Congresional, asuntos contributivos, derechos civiles, beneficios de programas federales, entre otros.

“Microjuris, en su misión de hacer el debate jurídico accesible a todas y todos, ha unido esfuerzos con las organizaciones Equally American y Latino Justice, quienes se han dedicado a liderar esfuerzos legales para atender estos retos y revocar esta progenie de casos. Al unir las voces de todos los territorios, creamos una oportunidad para evaluar las complejidades de los casos insulares y las dimensiones en las que hoy impactan la vida y los derechos de las personas que nacen y viven en los territorios, desde una perspectiva de derechos humanos, no partidista”, explicó la Lcda. Ataveyra Medina Hernandez, CEO de Microjuris y moderadora del panel.

Las organizaciones participarán en un panel titulado ‘Insular Cases: «Odious and wrong». Voices from the Territories’ que se llevará a cabo el próximo miércoles, 5 de octubre de 2022 a las 7:00 p.m., hora del este por el canal de Facebook de Microjuris.

En el panel, participaran Neil Weare de Guam y Charles Ala’ilima de Samoa Americana, ambos abogados del caso Fitisemanu; la Legisladora de las Islas Marianas del Norte, Hon. Sheila Babauta, Lia Fiol Matta, abogada dedicada a asuntos de derechos civiles de Puerto Rico y Brian Modeste, Director de Asuntos Insulares en el Comité de Recursos Naturales de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos.