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The United States acquired the islands of Puerto Rico in 1898 after the Spanish–American War, and the archipelago has been under U.S. sovereignty since.In 1950, Congress enacted the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 or legislation (P.L. 81-600), authorizing Puerto Rico to hold a constitutional convention and, in 1952, the people of Puerto Rico ratified a constitution establishing a ...
Puerto Rico's governor, who is the head of government, and the members of the legislature are elected every four years by popular vote. Puerto Rico's legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a Senate and a House. The members of the judicial branch are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate to serve until they reach age 70.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit. 'Constitution of the Free Associated State of Puerto Rico') is the primary organizing law for the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of Puerto Rico in nine articles.
Over several cases, the Supreme Court ruled that Puerto Rico was “foreign to the U.S. in a domestic sense,” that it “belonged to but was not a part of” the U.S. and created the category of ...
Under the Constitution of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico designates itself with the term Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of administrative autonomy similar to citizens of a U.S. state and like the States, it has a republican form of government, organized pursuant to a constitution adopted by its people, and a bill of rights. The ...
Similar to a U.S. State, the Governor has authority over the Puerto Rico National Guard. Although Puerto Rico does not have the position of Lieutenant Governor, sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution empower the Secretary of the Puerto Rico State Department to act as Acting Governor, should the governor be absent from Puerto Rico, become ...
On June 8, 1950, the United States government approved Public Law 600, authorizing Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution in 1951. The Constitutional Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Constituyente) or Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico met for a period of several months between 1951 and 1952 in which the document was written. The framers ...
A referendum on a new constitution was held in Puerto Rico on 3 March 1952. [1] It was approved by 82% of voters. [2] This was considered by many American and Puerto Rican politicians an affirmation of the new constitution of the island as an Estado Libre Associado, or Commonwealth, as proposed by legislation in 1950 by the United States Congress after negotiation with its political leaders.