Puerto Rican Rights at SCOTUS and Throughout History

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2021

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s episode, We the People examines United States v. Vaello-Madero, a case involving U.S. citizen Jose Luis Vaello-Madero who claims the exclusion of Puerto Ricans from the Supplemental Security Income program violates the Constitution. Vaello-Madero began receiving Supplemental Security Income while living in New York but then moved back to Puerto Rico. When the government found that out, it cut off Vaello-Madero's benefits and sued him because SSI is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands, but not in Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories. Host Jeffrey Rosen is joined by Neil Weare, president and founder of Equally American who was raised in the U.S. territory of Guam and previously worked for Guam’s non-voting Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, and Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus, the George Welwood Murray Professor of Legal History at Columbia Law School who was raised in Puerto Rico and specializes in studying the legal issues surrounding Puerto Rico. Weare and Ponsa-Kraus explain the case, recap its oral argument at the Supreme Court, and walk us through the history of how Puerto Rico and its residents have been treated under the Constitution and by the U.S. government. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Additional resources and transcript available in our Media Library at constitutioncenter.org/constitution.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution
0:06.9	Center and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:10.7	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress
0:16.2	to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:21.0	This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States versus
0:25.0	Valleo Madero, a case that asked whether the US government violated the Constitution
0:30.0	by establishing certain government benefits, but not extending them to Puerto Rico.
0:34.6	Today we'll unpack the argument and the important legal precedents with two of America's
0:39.5	leading experts on Puerto Rico and the Constitution.
0:43.0	Neil Weir is president and founder of equally American,
0:46.4	raised in the US territory of Guam.
0:48.6	Neil previously worked for Guam's non-voting delegate,
0:51.2	Madeline Bordello, and he was previously litigation
0:54.4	counsel and Supreme Court fellow at the Constitutional Accountability Center.
0:58.2	Neil, thank you so much for joining.
1:00.0	Thanks so much, really glad to join and appreciate you guys focusing on these issues.
1:04.5	And Christina D. Ponsa Kraus is the George Wellwood Murray professor of legal history at Columbia
1:09.7	Law School.
1:10.7	Raised in Puerto Rico, she studies the legal issues surrounding Puerto Rico and other U.S.
1:14.5	territories and has written widely about these issues. She's currently working on a study of
1:19.8	recent legal developments affecting the status of the U.S. territories.
1:23.5	Christina, thank you so much for joining.
	...

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