It was a busy day at the Supreme Court yesterday. You probably logged on expecting to read about the Cassirer case, and I’ll try to get a post up about it next week. But over time, I have covered some of the First Circuit’s Puerto Rico status cases, so I wanted to comment on US […]

Yesterday Puerto Rico held a plebiscite on its political status. A whopping 97% of the voters favored statehood. The remainder of the vote was split between the other two options, independence and continuation of the island’s status as a US territory.

The case of the day is Igartúa v. Obama (1st Cir. 2016). Long-time readers know I have been writing about the First Circuit’s (and the Supreme Court’s) Puerto Rico status cases for a while. In the latest case, Gregoria Igartúa, a US citizen residing in Puerto Rico, and the litigant who has been raising issues […]

The case of the day is Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust (S. Ct. 2016). I’m sorry, readers who are looking for service of process or 1782 cases—you’ll have to stick it out for one more day of Puerto Rico coverage. By way of explanation, I take a particular interest in Puerto Rico status […]

The case of the day is Puerto Rico v. Sánches Valle (S. Ct. 2016). I wrote about the case back in January. The issue is interesting: Sánches Valle was indicted by both a federal grand jury and by Puerto Rico prosecutors on gun trafficking charges. He pleaded guilty to the federal indictment and then moved […]