Although the federal Supreme Court accepted a case calling into question Puerto Rico’s exclusion from additional social security, US President Joe Biden was still able to withdraw from his appeal.
Essentially, the federal government under the administration of President Donald Trump appealed the decision of the First Circuit of Appeals Boston in the case of Vaello-Madero that decided that residents of Puerto Rico could not be excluded from the Supplementary Social Security (SSI). Although President Biden was expected to withdraw from that appeal, the Supreme Court accepted the case yesterday and it is now in his hands whether he will uphold the First Circuit ruling.
For the Puerto Rican attorney John Muddthe Biden government can still refer the case to the Supreme Court. “You can still pick it up under the line 46 of the regulations of the Supreme Court of the United States, ”the attorney said in a telephone interview with SubwayRule 46 does not say that while the certiorari to go [pueden retirar el caso]he added.
Since Biden became president on Jan. 20, several politicians in the country have advocated for the president to withdraw judicial proceedings in the Supreme Court. If the case were dropped, it would have the effect of upholding the decision of the First Circuit in Boston, so that the residents of Puerto Rico could claim the right to this SSI benefit.
Mudd stated that, in addition to this scenario, the Vaello-Madero case has several possible scenarios in the federal Supreme Court.
The attorney argued that one possibility is for the US highest judicial forum to confirm and validate the First Circuit’s decision. However, he believed that based on past statistics, this result could be uphill. The Circuit’s decision can be upheld. Now, 70% of the times the Supreme certiorari In 70% of the cases, the appellant’s decision is reversed, ”says Mudd.
The attorney also thought that the federal Supreme Court could also overturn the Boston appellant’s decision based on that judicial forum’s previous decisions in the cases of Harris v. Rosary beads Y Califano v. Towers, which justify the different treatment of residents of Puerto Rico under the territorial clause.
He, in turn, warned that the decision in the federal Supreme Court case could affect the lawsuits surrounding the central government’s debt adjustment plan. Last week, the Fiscal Control Board announced it had reached an agreement with the country’s bondholders and are expected to present the adjustment plan before March 8. “ If the Circuit’s decision stands that they cannot discriminate, it will create a terrible disruption to the Adjustment Plan, because the Plan does not believe that Puerto Rico is entitled to many funds it would be entitled to if the case was favorable. would be decided. Puerto Rico, ”he said.
He also noted that it is possible the Federal Supreme Court could judge whether the Insular Cases should be withdrawn. These court rulings have concluded that the United States Constitution does not apply in its entirety to unincorporated areas, such as Puerto Rico.
The attorney also felt that the Biden administration may have been slow to drop the case to see opportunities to introduce the benefit through legislation into Congress. In this way, according to Mudd, Biden could receive such legislation as a political triumph and give him more opportunities to count on the voice of Puerto Ricans in the United States.
Background to the Vaello-Madero case
The lawsuit was initially filed by the United States government in a redressive action against Jose Luis Vaello Madero
He lived in New York from 1985 to 2013, where he received disability benefits. Later, the man moved to Puerto Rico in 2013, but continued to receive the Social Security deposit in his New York bank account until 2016. dismissal from it.
The United States government requested that the case be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that there were still administrative procedures that could exhaust Vaello-Madero, but the judge Gustavo Gelpí denied that dismissal request and the Boston Court of Appeals later upheld the decision.
Before the first circuit was established, the local government presented itself as a friend of the short. At the time the governor Wanda Vazquez GarcedWithin weeks of being promoted to an executive position, she said the plan to abolish Puerto Ricans’ rights was discriminatory.
The Circuit of Appeals concluded that “the exclusion of residents of Puerto Rico (on the right to additional security) is not rationally related to a government interest.” The Boston case was heard by the judges Juan Torruella Jeffrey Howard Y Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson
Then the Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court.