By The Star Staff
Congressmen and civil rights leaders on Wednesday demanded that the United States Department of Justice condemn the “Insular Cases,” a judicial decision that promoted colonial governance in U.S. territories.
“The Department of Justice has the opportunity to right a historic wrong by unequivocally rejecting the discriminatory and racist ‘Insular Cases’ doctrine,” said House Judiciary Committee member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).
A bipartisan letter was sent to the Justice Department, signed by 43 members of Congress, including Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who denounced the persistence of the cases and their racist and colonial influence.
“The Department of Justice has taken steps in the right direction by criticizing ‘aspects’ of the racist ‘Insular Cases’ as ‘indefensible and repugnant,’” said ranking member Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). “But it is time for the DOJ to go further and unequivocally reject these racist decisions, much as it has done with other Supreme Court opinions that were based on racist stereotypes that do not conform to the mandate of equality and respect for the law of the Constitution.”
Organizations and allies support the call, highlighting the impact of the ‘Insular’ decisions on systematic discrimination against the 3.6 million inhabitants of U.S. territories. Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, and leaders such as U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Manuel Quilichini of the Puerto Rico Bar Association have also urged the Justice Department to condemn the practices.