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SUFFOLK UN!VERSITY LAW REVIEW (Vol. L:587
the globalized intemational system.
IX. LARGE-SCALE CHO ICES TO BE MADE BY CONGRESS ANO THE PEO PLE OF
PUERTO RICO
When Puerto Rico adopted its constitution in 1952, John McCormack, the
then-majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, and subsequent
Speaker of the House, stated that Puerto Rico's constitution represented "a new
experiment; it is a tuming away from the territorial status; it is something
intermediary between the territorial status and statehood."179 These remarks
echoed Frankfurter's memorandum to the Secretary of War. Four years later,
on February 5, 1956, Chief Justice Earl Warren commemorated the
inauguration of the new P.R. Supreme Court building by describing Puerto
Rico as perhaps the most remarkable United States governmental experiment in
his lifetime.l'" He stated:
[O]ur American system is not static, in the sense that it is not an end but the
means to an end; in the sense that it is an organism intended to grow and
expand to meet varying conditions and items in a large country; in the sense
that every governmental effort of ours is an experiment-so the new
institutions ofthe Commonwealth of Puerto Rico representan experiment-the
newest experiment and perhaps the most notable of American govemmental
experiments in our lifetimes.181
Warren's 1956 speech follows the creative statesmanship endorsed in
Frankfurter's 1914 memorandum. In Sanchez Valle, the U.S. Supreme Court
recognized "that Congress has broad latitude to develop innovative approaches
to territorial. governance" so as to "enable a territory's people to make large-
scale choices about their own political institutions."182 The Court described the
unique relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico as a "prime
example[] of what Felix Frankfurter once termed 'inventive statesmanship. "'183
Sanchez Valle provides a platform to build U.S. relationships with the people
of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, and fully
develop the principies of liberty and government by consent with these nonstate
179. 98 CONO. REc. 5128 (1952) (statement of John McCormack) (stating hybrid nature of Puerto Rican
constitution).
180. Chief Justice Earl Warren, Speech at lnauguration of P.R. Supreme Court Building (Feb. 5, 1956) (on
file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Earl Warren Papers, Manuscript División, Box 797).
181. id.
182. See Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. 1863, 1876 (discussing Congress's power to enable a
territory's self-governance).
J 83. See id. The Justices' conservative or liberal political ideologies did not factor into these statements.
Both the conservative and liberal wings of the Court appear to support the notion of innovative govemance
under the Territorial Clause.
the globalized intemational system.
IX. LARGE-SCALE CHO ICES TO BE MADE BY CONGRESS ANO THE PEO PLE OF
PUERTO RICO
When Puerto Rico adopted its constitution in 1952, John McCormack, the
then-majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, and subsequent
Speaker of the House, stated that Puerto Rico's constitution represented "a new
experiment; it is a tuming away from the territorial status; it is something
intermediary between the territorial status and statehood."179 These remarks
echoed Frankfurter's memorandum to the Secretary of War. Four years later,
on February 5, 1956, Chief Justice Earl Warren commemorated the
inauguration of the new P.R. Supreme Court building by describing Puerto
Rico as perhaps the most remarkable United States governmental experiment in
his lifetime.l'" He stated:
[O]ur American system is not static, in the sense that it is not an end but the
means to an end; in the sense that it is an organism intended to grow and
expand to meet varying conditions and items in a large country; in the sense
that every governmental effort of ours is an experiment-so the new
institutions ofthe Commonwealth of Puerto Rico representan experiment-the
newest experiment and perhaps the most notable of American govemmental
experiments in our lifetimes.181
Warren's 1956 speech follows the creative statesmanship endorsed in
Frankfurter's 1914 memorandum. In Sanchez Valle, the U.S. Supreme Court
recognized "that Congress has broad latitude to develop innovative approaches
to territorial. governance" so as to "enable a territory's people to make large-
scale choices about their own political institutions."182 The Court described the
unique relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico as a "prime
example[] of what Felix Frankfurter once termed 'inventive statesmanship. "'183
Sanchez Valle provides a platform to build U.S. relationships with the people
of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, and fully
develop the principies of liberty and government by consent with these nonstate
179. 98 CONO. REc. 5128 (1952) (statement of John McCormack) (stating hybrid nature of Puerto Rican
constitution).
180. Chief Justice Earl Warren, Speech at lnauguration of P.R. Supreme Court Building (Feb. 5, 1956) (on
file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Earl Warren Papers, Manuscript División, Box 797).
181. id.
182. See Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. 1863, 1876 (discussing Congress's power to enable a
territory's self-governance).
J 83. See id. The Justices' conservative or liberal political ideologies did not factor into these statements.
Both the conservative and liberal wings of the Court appear to support the notion of innovative govemance
under the Territorial Clause.
