America Has a Colonies Problem: Constitutional Rights and U.S. Territories

America has a blind spot when it comes to systemic racism. More than 3.5 million Americans – 98% of whom are racial or ethnic minorities – are disenfranchised and treated as second-class citizens simply because they live in one of five U.S. territories. The roots of America's colonies problem are the Insular Cases, a series of racist Plessy-era Supreme Court decisions that established a doctrine of "separate and unequal" status for territorial residents. This program will discuss the constitutional and legal history of U.S. territories and the Insular Cases. It will examine current legal issues facing U.S. territories in the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress. 

Co-sponsored by the Virgin Islands Bar Association

Speakers

Speaker: Neil Weare, Equally American

Co-Chair: Mirna Martinez Santiago, Esq., Girls Rule the Law

Co-Chair: Sherry Levin Wallach, Esq., The Legal Aid Society of Westchester County

Speaker: Neil Weare, who grew up in Guam, is President of Equally American, the only advocacy organization fighting for equality in U.S. territories. He is a co-author of the forthcoming casebook Law of U.S. Territories, and has taught legal seminars on the territories at Yale Law School and Columbia Law School