Monday, October 22, 2007

Yet Another Political Discrimination Case from Puerto Rico Reaches the First

Today's decision by the First Circuit in Carlos Calderon-Garnier v. Hon. Anabelle Rodríguez, No. 06-2222 (1st Cir., Oct. 22, 2007) involves an interlocutory appeal in yet another Puerto Rico political discrimination case. The appeal is from the denial of qualified immunity. The parties to the appeal are a former Commonwealth prosecutor (now a PRACDL member) and a former Commonwealth Secretary of Justice (now an Associate Justice of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Supreme Court). The PRACDL member prevails, at least at this stage of the proceedings.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Meetings before President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status and Congressional Action on October 23, 2007

Meetings will be held at the Department of Justice next Tuesday, October 23, 2007 presided by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status. We last posted here on the Report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status.

Also on Tuesday the House of Representatives will be going through the markup of what appears to be an Amendment In The Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 900 Offered by Mr. Rahall of West Virginia. In essence, this provides for a referendum vote for or against the current status -- a colonial status.

UPDATE: You can view the House Committee on Natural Resources markup hearing here.

New Look for Macondo Law

Perhaps getting a new look on Macondo Law will make me want to post more regularly. It's not as if I don't want to post, or have run out of things to write about. Recently I have had a lot of work to get out. I can say that I am cautiously optimistic about the outcome of Gall v. US, No. 06-7949 and Kimbrough v. US, No. 06-6330. (Briefs and Oral Argument Transcripts added to the sidebar).

On the Puerto Rico front, we had the recent embarrassing news spread all over the world about the dozens of pets seized from their owners and thereafter apparently thrown over a bridge some 50 feet to their deaths (for the most part). The pet owners resided in public housing and had been threatened with eviction unless they handed over the pets. A lawsuit requesting in excess of $20 millions has been filed in U.S. District Court against the municipal government of Barceloneta, PR, the mayor, personnel from the municipality, as well as a private entity --Animal Control Solutions, Inc. (ACS)-- alleged to have carried out the part of taking the pets away and throwing them over the bridge to their deaths. ACS owner Julio Díaz has also been sued.

More news on this later as it develops.