A License to Kill: State Sponsored Death in the Oldest Colony in the World

Abstract

The article discusses the death penalty in Puerto Rico as a means of state violence by the United States over Puerto Rico. In light of this, the author recounts the Puerto Rican colonial experience through a legal lens, beginning with the first organic law of Puerto Rico and the Insular Cases. Afterwards, the author examines the imposition of the death penalty on Puerto Rico and the challenges it has faced based on the due process of the fourteenth amendment. The article concludes with the stating how the death penalty is as another expression of the U.S. Congress plenary powers over the Island, given that it is expressly rejected in Puerto Rico’s Constitution.

Keywords: Puerto Rico, Death Penalty, Criminal Law, Colonialism, Imperialism, Criminal Justice, Criminal Law

JEL Classification: K14, K00