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Rejecting Insular Cases Doctrine: Constitutional Equality for US Territories

This House Resolution aims to reject historical Supreme Court decisions known as the "Insular Cases," which denied full constitutional rights to residents of US territories. Its goal is to ensure that citizens living in territories like Puerto Rico or Guam are treated equally to state residents, potentially impacting their voting rights, access to federal benefits, and overall legal treatment.
Key points
The resolution recognizes that US constitutional and democratic principles should fully apply to all territories, not just states.
It emphasizes that the "Insular Cases" decisions were based on outdated racial views and contradict the spirit of the US Constitution.
It calls for the rejection of the "Insular Cases" in all current and future cases involving the application of the Constitution in US territories, potentially leading to full legal equality for residents of these areas.
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Additional Information
Acknowledging that the United States Supreme Court's decisions in the Insular Cases and the "territorial incorporation doctrine" are contrary to the text and history of the United States Constitution, rest on racial views and stereotypes from the era of Plessy v. Ferguson that have long been rejected, are contrary to our Nation's most basic constitutional and democratic principles, and should be rejected as having no place in United States constitutional law.
Print number: HRES 314
Sponsor: Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7]
Process start date: 2023-04-20