The Insular Cases (1901-1922)

The Insular Cases are a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1901 to 1922 that established the legal doctrine governing the relationship between the United States and its territorial possessions acquired after the Spanish-American War. The central question was: "Does the Constitution follow the flag?"

The Court's answer was effectively: No. The territories were classified as "unincorporated" — belonging to but not a part of the United States. This meant that the full protections of the U.S. Constitution did not automatically apply to their inhabitants.

Key cases:

• Downes v. Bidwell (1901): The most consequential case. The Court ruled 5-4 that Puerto Rico was "a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States." Justice Henry Billings Brown's majority opinion relied on explicitly racist reasoning, referring to the territories' inhabitants as "alien races" and "savages" who could not understand "Anglo-Saxon principles."

• Balzac v. Porto Rico (1922): Held that the right to a jury trial (Sixth Amendment) does not apply in Puerto Rico because it is an unincorporated territory.

• Dorr v. United States (1904): Reaffirmed that constitutional rights are not automatically extended to unincorporated territories.

The Insular Cases created a legal framework of second-class citizenship that persists today. Congress can extend or withhold constitutional protections at will. Legal scholars including Juan Torruella, Pedro Malavet, and the American Bar Association have called for the cases to be overturned, calling them the "Dred Scott" of the 20th century.