Court dismisses senator’s lawsuit over archived cases at Justice Dept.

By THE STAR STAFF 

Superior Court Judge Anthony Cuevas Ramos late on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit filed by Sen. Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz against the Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres seeking to compel the release of information regarding cases archived within the Division of Public Integrity and Comptroller Affairs.

“In this case, Senator Hernández Ortiz filed the instant petition without demonstrating that he holds any of the roles within the legislative bodies that the statute requires in order to initiate this type of action,” Cuevas Ramos concluded in his ruling. “Thus, lacking standing to sue, this Court is bound to act in accordance with the doctrine of judicial self-restraint.”

The court determined that Article 34-A of the Political Code expressly delineates who may turn to the judicial forum to request the production of documents or objects in the context of a legislative investigation.

The ruling establishes that this authority rests with the president or vice president of any of the legislative bodies authorized by law.

Hernández Ortiz had requested that the Court of First Instance, San Juan Superior Division, order Gómez Torres to produce a list of cases archived pursuant to Administrative Order 2025-09, as well as copies of the corresponding closure and archiving orders.

According to the court document, the senator filed Information Request 2026-0063 with the Senate of Puerto Rico on May 4, which was unanimously approved that same day.

The Justice Department refused to release the documents on May 19, arguing that the closure reports or memoranda prepared by prosecutors constitute part of the agency’s internal investigative and deliberative process. Subsequently, on May 21, the Senate approved a motion granting the secretary of justice a final 48-hour deadline to submit the requested information.

In light of the Department of Justice’s refusal, Hernández Ortiz petitioned the court, asserting that he possessed authorization from the Senate as well as the concurrence of Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz.

Cuevas Ramos concluded that such authorization did not satisfy the statutory requirement for standing under Article 34-A.