Tag Archives: Topic: Puerto Rico

ThinkProgress: The Puerto Rican Senate recently approved a bill that “could eliminate LGBT-specific categories from the island’s hate crimes law” and now the House is expected to take up the measure, the blog Boy In Bushwick is reporting . . .

Anthony Stevens-Arroyo at the Washington Post: The lesson to the bishops in Catholic America today is clear: Take care that preaching against the liberal idea of “reproductive rights” does not wind up promoting worse moral consequences. With huge imbalances in the current budget where the poor and declining middle-class face cutbacks in jobs and services, population control is likely to make a comeback. I’m not saying that mass sterilization of women will necessarily become an acceptable option in the USA, but we would be foolish to think it impossible.

To abate crime, Puerto Rico adopted a Controlled Access Law, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 23, §§ 64-64h (2008), allowing local entities (called “urbanizations”), organized by the community but approved by the municipality, to control street access to areas within towns that have voted in favor of such plans.

Brown v. Colegio, No. 08-2432 (1st Cir. July 23, 2010)

“This court held that the First Amendment allowed Colegio to compel its members to purchase life insurance only if this was germane to the purposes that justify compelling membership in an integrated bar association … the district court then held that the life insurance program was not germane and was therefore unconstitutional, awarded Romero damages–the amount of his dues attributable to the life insurance program since he had initially objected–and entered an injunction “prohibit[ing] [Colegio] from collecting . . . that portion of his future annual dues attributable to the Colegio’s mandatory group life insurance program. … After Romero, Colegio did not fully advise its members that they no longer had to buy insurance, threw obstacles in front of those trying to opt out, and delayed refunds. In fact it moved to disbar one member who refused to pay the portion of his dues attributable to the program. … We affirm the district court’s declaration of liability and its grant of injunctive relief but vacate its judgment insofar as it determines the amount of damages, and remand to allow notice to be given to class members including their right to opt out of the class.”

Fox News: “The House of Representatives voted Thursday to allow Puerto Ricans to decide their own political future and relationship with the United States. The vote was 223 to 169. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., voted present. The bill introduced a two-step ballot measure for Puerto Rico to decide if its residents want to change their current relationship with the United States.”