Brief Amicus Curiae of Carlos Delgado Altieri, Mayor Of
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No. 20-303 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States _________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Petitioner, v. JOSE LUIS VAELLO-MADERO. Respondent _________ ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT _________ BRIEF BY THE MAYOR OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF ISABELA, PUERTO RICO CARLOS DELGADO ALTIERI AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF VAELLO-MADERO _________ JOSÉ A. HERNÁNDEZ MAYORAL ROBERTO PRATS PALERM Counsel of Record RPP Law PSC 206 TETUÁN ST., STE 702 1509 LOPEZ LANDRON SAN JUAN, PR 00901 10TH FLOOR 787-722-7782 SAN JUAN, PR 00911 [email protected] 787-721-6010 [email protected] Counsel for Amicus Curiae October 29, 2020 i TABLE OF CONTENTS INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ............................ 1 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ............................ 1 ARGUMENT ................................................................ 3 I. BACKGROUND ................................................... 3 II. TO DENY VAELLO-MADERO SSI PAYMENTS BECAUSE OF HOW PUERTO RICO CONTRIBUTES TO THE FEDERAL TREASURY HAS NO RATIONAL BASIS ............... 15 III. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, AS U.S. CITIZENS IN AN AUTONOMOUS REGION OF THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT VOTING REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS, MUST BE SUBJECT TO STRICT SCRUTINY ANALYSIS. ................................................................ 19 CONCLUSION .......................................................... 23 ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CASES Adarand Constructors v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200, 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995) ................................................... 20 Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298, 42 S. Ct. 343 (1922) ...................................................................... 21 Califano v. Torres, 435 U.S. 1 (1978) ............ 15, 16, 21 Dandrige v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471 (1970)) ............. 16 De Lima v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 1 (1901) ..................... 11 Dooley v. United States, 182 U.S. 222 (1901) ........... 11 Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901) ................... 10 Examining Bd. of Eng'rs, Architects & Surveyors v. Flores De Otero, 426 U.S. 572, 96 S. Ct. 2264 (1976). ......................................................... 11, 12, 19 Fin. Oversight & Mgmt. Bd. for P.R. v. Aurelius Inv., LLC, 140 S. Ct. 1649 (2020) .................... 11, 12 Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365, 91 S. Ct. 1848 (1971). ............................................................ 20 Harris v. Rosario, 446 U.S. 651 (1980) ......... 15, 16, 21 Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943) ... 22 Martínez v. United States HHS, No. 18-01206- WGY, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138894 (D.P.R. Aug. 3, 2020) .......................................................... 23 Mass. Bd. of Ret. v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 96 S. Ct. 2562 (1976). ...................................................... 20 Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307 (1976) ................................................ 15 iii Puerto Rico v. Sánchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. 1863 (2016) .............................................................. passim Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co., 488 U.S. 469 (1989). ..................................................................... 20 San Antonio Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 93 S. Ct. 1278 (1973). ................................. 20 Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857). ....... 10 United States v. Vaello-Madero, 356 F.Supp 3d 208 (D.P.R. 2019). .................................................. 23 United States v. Vaello-Madero, 956 F.3d 12 (1st Cir. 2020). ......................................................... 14, 16 Vance v. Bradley, 440 U.S. 93 (1979). ................ 16, 17 STATUTES 26 U.S.C. § 933 ............................................................ 3 30 Stat. 1754 ................................................................ 3 31 Stat. 77 (1900). .................................................... 4, 6 39 Stat. 951 (1917). ...................................................... 7 41 U.S.C. § 1382c(a)(1)(B)(i) ..................................... 14 41 U.S.C. § 1382(c)(e). ............................................... 14 48 U.S.C § 1842 ......................................................... 14 48 U.S.C. § 1801 ........................................................ 14 48 U.S.C. § 731b .......................................................... 8 48 U.S.C. § 734 ............................................................ 9 Pub. L. No. 81-600 ........................................... 8, 12, 19 iv OTHER AUTHORITIES 96 Cong. Rec. 8891 (1950) ........................................... 9 H.R. REP. NO. 86-32 (1959). ...................................... 10 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/PR. .................... 21 https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-gross- collections-by-type-of-tax-and-state-irs-data- book-table-5. ..................................................... 15, 18 Felix Frankfurter, Memorandum for the Secretary of War, in Hearings on S. 4604 before the Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, 63d Cong., 2d Sess., 23 (1914) .............. 6 Philip C. Jessup, Elihu Root, vol. 1 (New York: Dodd Mead, 1938) .................................................... 4 Congressional Budget Office, Potential Economic Impacts of Changes in Puerto Rico's Status Under S. 712, CBO Papers, April 1990 ................ 13 John F. Kennedy, Presidential Press Conference Material, May 8, 1963, 44: https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset viewer/archives/ JFKPOF/059/JFKPOF-059-010 ............................ 12 Rafael Hernández Colón, The Evolution of Democratic Governance Under the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution, 50 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 587 (2017) ................................................. 22, 23 SSA Publication No. 13-11976, October 2020 .... 15, 18 U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO–14–31, Puerto Rico: Information on How Statehood v Would Potentially Affect Selected Federal Programs and Revenue Sources 14 (2014) ............ 13 United States Senate, Hearings Before the Committee on Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico, Senate Bill 2264, Statement made by Brig. Gen. George W. Davis, U.S.A. Military Governor of the Island of Puerto Rico (January 13, 1900) ......... 5 TREATISES U.N. Charter art. 73 .................................................... 8 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS U.S. Const. art. I, § 2 ................................................. 19 U.S. Const. amend. XVII ........................................... 19 INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE1 Amicus curiae Carlos Delgado Altieri is the mayor of the Municipality of Isabela, Puerto Rico, and president of the Popular Democratic Party. Mr. Delgado Altieri is deeply troubled by the position assumed by the United States Government claiming that “Congress has a legitimate interest in avoiding a one-sided fiscal relationship under which Puerto Rico shares the financial benefits but not the financial burdens of statehood, and declining to include Puerto Rico in the SSI program is a rational means of furthering that interest.” Pet. 12. Mr. Delgado Altieri intends to bring before the Court the appropriate legal and historical background information relative to Puerto Rico's distinct tax treatment so that it may be properly briefed as to this critical and sensitive point. The amicus curiae brief is presented in support of respondent. SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT The United States requests that this Court issue a writ of certiorari and summarily dismiss the First Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling so that it can proceed to demand the reimbursement of Supplemental 1 This brief filed by the Mayor of the Municipality of Isabela, Puerto Rico, as permitted under Rule 37.4, at least 10 days prior to the deadline which serves as notice. No counsel for any party authored this brief in whole or in part and no person or entity other than amicus curiae or its counsel made a monetary contribution toward its preparation or submission. 2 Security Income (SSI) payments made to an indigent American citizen after he moved from New York, where its residents are entitled to SSI payments, to Puerto Rico, where its residents are not entitled to SSI payments. As rationale for the SSI program’s discrimination against American citizens residing in Puerto Rico, the United States points to Puerto Rico’s general fiscal autonomy and posits that: “Congress has a legitimate interest in avoiding a one-sided fiscal relationship under which Puerto Rico shares the financial benefits but not the financial burdens of statehood, and declining to include Puerto Rico in the SSI program is a rational means of furthering that interest.” Pet. 12. This contention is both shameful and ignorant. Puerto Rico’s unique tax treatment resulted from the long recognized economic reality that its tax base is too small to support a dual–federal and state– system of taxation. It exempts most but not all income from federal taxation. Consequently, despite its different tax treatment, Puerto Rico contributes to the federal treasury in amounts similar to that of several states. Since SSI payouts to the states is not tied to the amounts contributed in taxes by the residents of each state–the poorer states receive SSI payments in higher proportions than their tax contributions–, it is not rational to exclude Puerto Rico residents simply on account of its different tax system. This Court has recognized that Puerto Rico boasts a relationship to the United States that has no parallel in our history and that an integral aspect of that association