{"id":410265,"date":"2024-06-07T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=410265"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"DOJ-agrees-Insular-Cases-deserve-no-place-in-our-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/DOJ-agrees-Insular-Cases-deserve-no-place-in-our-law\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ agrees: Insular Cases deserve no place in our law"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an historic move, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced a department-wide policy to \u201cnot rely on or seek to extend the doctrine of territorial incorporation established by the Insular Cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Insular Cases are a series of early 1900s Supreme Court decisions that denied the overseas U.S. territories democracy and self-determination based on the Supreme Court\u2019s judgment that their residents were \u201calien races\u201d and \u201csavage tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOJ\u2019s action follows a recent bipartisan, bicameral 43-member letter, as well as letters from Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan, civil rights groups, and others calling on the DOJ to expressly condemn the Insular Cases and the territorial incorporation doctrine they established.<\/p>\n

Carlos Felipe Uriarte, assistant attorney general for Legislative Affairs, wrote in response to these letters that \u201c[t]he Department emphatically agrees \u2026 that the racist language and logic of the Insular Cases deserve no place in our law.\u201d Moreover, \u201cThe Department unequivocally condemns the racist rhetoric and reasoning of the Insular Cases, and unambiguously shares your view that such reasoning and rhetoric are irreconcilable with foundational American principles of equality, justice, and democracy.\u201d Most significantly, Uriarte explained that \u201c[t]he Department has taken active steps to coordinate components and offices \u2026 to ensure that Department litigators . . . will not rely on the racist rhetoric and reasoning of the Insular Cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Justice Department\u2019s actions help clarify that it is simply unacceptable to deny people democracy or self-determination just because of where they live or who they are,\u201d said Adi Mart\u00ednez Rom\u00e1n, co-director of Right to Democracy, an organization which works to confront and dismantle the undemocratic colonial framework in U.S. territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are gratified to see the department recognize that the relationship between the United States and the territories cannot lie on a foundation of racial stereotypes and discrimination,\u201d said Neil Weare, co-director of Right to Democracy. \u201cIt\u2019s an important first step towards a broader recognition that the United States needs to address the undemocratic framework that continues to govern people in U.S. territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statements from members of Congress<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased with the Justice Department\u2019s action to unequivocally reject the racist doctrine of the Insular Cases,\u201d said House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva, who co-led last month\u2019s congressional letter to DOJ. \u201cThis is an important step towards the Supreme Court finally overruling these discriminatory decisions, which have served to justify the denial of equal rights and self-determination to communities of color in U.S. territories for nearly 125 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virgin Islands Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, who led a press conference last month calling on the department to act, stated, \u201cI am pleased that the Department of Justice has used this crucial opportunity to denounce the Insular Cases and share their emphatic agreement that the racist language and logic behind those cases deserve no place in the law of the United States. This is an important step in advancing equity for the U.S. territories. I am proud to see our efforts come to fruition\u2014and have the Department of Justice clarify their position and denounce this racist, colonial framework. I will continue to advocate for the reversal of the Insular Cases to ensure the fair treatment of the residents of all the U.S. territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Insular Cases\u2014and their racist language and logic\u2014are a stain on our country\u2019s history. This news that the Justice Department is working to root out this rhetoric and reasoning from litigation marks progress for our democracy, its promise of equality under the law, and Democrats\u2019 quest to bring balance to our justice system,\u201d said U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur country was founded on principles of equality and democracy, ideals that should apply equally throughout the United States, whether someone lives in a state or territory,\u201d said House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). \u201cWe hope that this action by the Justice Department will encourage further action across all three branches of the federal government to address these historic and ongoing injustices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statements from civil rights and other allies<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome the Justice Department\u2019s momentous decision to firmly denounce the rhetoric and reasoning of the Insular Cases. Those rulings have always been at war with core values of justice and democracy,\u201d said Adriel I. Cepeda Derieux, deputy director of the ACLU\u2019s Voting Rights Project.<\/p>\n

Alejandro Ortiz, senior staff attorney of the ACLU\u2019s Racial Justice Program added: \u201cThis has been a long time coming: the Insular Cases are firmly rooted in white supremacy. They\u2019ve been wrong from the start, and government lawyers should never rely on their explicitly race-based logic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a national civil rights organization that defends the rights of the Latinx population and equal treatment of Puerto Ricans in the archipelago, we applaud the Justice Department\u2019s denouncement of the Insular Cases\u2019 reasoning as racist and indefensible,\u201dstated L\u00eda Fiol-Matta, senior counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. \u201cOur federal government should not rely on such shameful jurisprudence that go against basic principles of democracy, justice and the recognition of every person\u2019s humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision by the Department of Justice to cease reliance on the Insular Cases in future litigation is a monumental step towards a fair government for all Americans, regardless of where they reside. There should not be one set of constitutional rules for people who live in the mainland and another for people who live in the U.S. territories. This new policy acknowledges the inherent dignity and rights of Virgin Islanders and residents of other U.S. territories,\u201d said Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan, Jr., who also wrote the department earlier this year. \u201cWe thank our congressional allies and civil rights advocates for their unwavering support and collaboration in this significant achievement. This policy change reaffirms that discriminatory practices have no place in our legal system, aligning with our nation\u2019s core values of equality and justice for all.\u201d (PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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