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Abstract:
Boumediene v. Bush, resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2008, granted habeas corpus rights, at least for the time being, to the persons detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. The majority partially based its ruling on the doctrine of the Insular Cases, first set forth in the 1901 decision in Downes v. Bidwell. Indeed, the court was unanimous that the plurality opinion of Justice Edward Douglass White in Downes is still the dominant interpretation of the Constitution's Territorial Clause, abandoning the rule set forth in Dred Scott v. Sanford. This article provides historical context and analysis of the Insular Cases, that series of decisions on the power of the U.S. government over territory and people under the Territorial Clause and criticizes the majority's use of it to justify the "situational" application of constitutional rights to subjects of United States law. The article also points out the fallacy that these situations are temporary and transitional given that most of the current territorial possessions have been continuously occupied since the end of the Spanish American War in 1898.

Constitution, habeas corpus, Guantanamo, Territorial Clause

Abstract:
A study of the principal decision of the Insular Cases of 1901, which has provided constitutional authorization for the U.S. territorial empire for over a century. The cases were most recently referenced by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 2008 opinion in Boumediene v. Bush.

Constitutional Law, Guantanamo, War on Terror, Colonialism, Critical Race Theory, Law and Culture, Law and Society

Abstract:
This short article: (1) explains the development the Arts Panel at the LatCrit IV Conference and provides an account of its substantive content; (2) it gives the author's reactions to the presentations, while placing them within the planned description and written questions, locating them within the contemporary debate over the use of narrative in legal scholarship and in postmodern philosophical discourse more generally; and (3) the author gives a narrative about his own reluctant, difficult, and ultimately accidental gravitation towards LatCrit theory.

LatCrit Theory, Critical Race Theory, Narrative, Law and Culture, Law and Society

Abstract:
A study of Puerto Rico's century-old legal relationship with the United States, and how it constructs Puerto Ricans as legal and social second-class citizens because of their cultural nationhood. The discriminatory treatment conflicts with contemporary notions of justice and morality in postmodern political and legal philosophy. The article articulates a framework for legal reform that is consistent with a new progressive theoretical construct of a pluralistic and communitarian form of liberalism.

Constitutional Law, LatCrit Theory, Critical Race Theory, Colonialism, Territories, Law and Culture, Law and Society

Abstract:
An OpEd essay commenting on the 50th Anniversary of the desegregation of the University of Florida College of Law. It briefly describes the personal struggles of lead plaintiff Virgil Hawkins, first admittee, George Starke, and first law graduate, W. George Allen.

Public University Desegregation

Abstract:
Can a lawyer, in certain matters, be an impartial counsel for the situation, rather than an advocate for either party? The Latin Notary is a legal professional of the Civil Law world that is expected to be a non-adversarial, expert legal counselor to every party to a transaction. The State seeks to ensure impartiality by imposing on the notary very strict training, admission and ethical requirements. In exchange for such high demands, the state often grants the notaries profitable subject-matter and geographic monopolies. Covers historical development, current definition and scope, relation to "lawyer as intermediary" of Model Rule 2.2.

Comparative law, Civil law, Notarial Law, Notaries, Legal Ethics, International Property Transactions

Abstract:
Notarial transactions are specialized contracts, which in most of the world are written and certified by a legal professional known as a notary, who obviously is not the U.S. notary public. These, in effect, lawyers, practice a liberal profession so endowed of the public trust that they are expressly made alternatives to judicial proceedings. Hence, the notarial form is an extra-judicial certification of legality and truth, often comparable to our court judgments. This system guarantees honesty and legality while avoiding or resolving disputes, at a very low cost, when compared to American law practice and certainly when compared to litigation.

Notarial Law, Civil Law, Comparative Law, Legal Ethics, International Commercial Transactions

Abstract:
This piece serves three purposes: (1) briefly to take issue with the current treatment of comparative scholarship, especially how it is ignored by main law reviews; (2) to be a succinct introduction to the Latin Notary; and (3) to point out that the adversarial ethic and notarial impartiality can co-exist and even complement one another. It presents the notary as an example of a non-adversarial ethic, in a system that has other professionals who are ruled by the adversarial ethic. It does not advocate the abandonment of the adversarial ethic, but, rather, argues that in certain legal situations a non-adversarial approach can work best.

Comparative Law, Civil Law, Notarial Law, Legal Ethics, International Property Transactions

Abstract:
A LatCritical look at the then-current "Latina/o Musical Moment" represented by the popularity of artists like Carlos Santana, Ricky Martin, Jennifer López, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Christina Aguilera. It specifically focuses on competing cultural constructs of Latinas/os generally, and Puerto Ricans in particular, re/viewed from the author's perspective of exile along the cultural borderlands of Puerto Rico and the Estados Unidos de Norteamérica (the U.S.A.).

LatCrit Theory, Critical Race Theory, Law and Culture, Law and Society, Colonialism, Postcolonial Theory, Territories

Abstract:
Applying recent Critical Race Theory reparations discourse to inform Puerto Rico's transition to any one of the three legitimate post-colonial status options.

LatCrit Theory, Critical Race Theory, Reparations, Colonialism, Law and Culture, Law and Society

Abstract:
A critical introduction of a group of articles in the LatCrit VI Symposium issue, discussing the authors' diverse approaches to Latin American legal cultures and contextualizing the publications in the growing body of LatCrit scholarship.

LatCrit Theory, Critical Race Theory, Law and Culture, Law and Society

Abstract:
A critical review of the essays and articles included in the LatCrit VIII Symposium issue.

LatCrit Theory, Critical Race Theory, Law and Culture, Law and Society