Insular Cases - List of Insular Cases

List of Insular Cases

Various authorities have listed what they consider are the legitimate constituents of the Insular Cases.

Juan R. Torruella, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over the Federal Court for the District of Puerto Rico) considers that the landmark decisions consisted of six fundamental cases only, all decided in 1901: "strictly speaking the Insular Cases are the original six opinions issued concerning acquired territories as a result of the 1898 Treaty of Paris." These six cases were:

• De Lima v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 1 (1901)
• Goetze v. United States, 182 U.S. 221 (1901)
• Dooley v. United States, 182 U.S. 222 (1901)
• Armstrong v. United States, 182 U.S. 243 (1901)
• Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901)
• Huus v. New York and Porto Rico Steamship Co., 182 U.S. 392 (1901)

Other authorities, such as José Trías Monge, former Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, states that the list also includes these additional two cases also decided in 1901:

• Dooley v. United States, 183 U.S. 151 (1901)
• Fourteen Diamond Rings v. United States, 183 U.S. 176 (1901)

Law Professor Pedro A. Malavet, indicates in his book America's Colony: The Political and Cultural Conflict Between the United States and Puerto Rico that while many law experts include cases from 1903 to 1979, some scholars limit the number of cases in the list to just nine, adding also

• Crossman v. United States, 182 U.S. 221 (1901)

to the list of eight cases above, as separate from the Goetze v. United States, 182 U.S. 221 (1901), case.

Two-thirds (six) of the nine Insular Cases referred specifically to cases involving only Puerto Rico.

Some authorities, such as Constitutional law professor, and expert on US-PR constitutional relations, Dr. Efren Rivera Ramos, state that the designation of Insular Cases has been extended beyond the first nine 1901 cases to include another set of cases decided from 1903 to 1914:

• Hawaii v. Mankichi, 190 U.S. 197 (1903)
• Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1 (1904)
• Kepner v. United States, 195 U.S. 100 (1904)
• Dorr v. United States, 195 U.S. 138 (1904)
• Mendozana v. United States, 195 U.S. 158 (1904)
• Rasmussen v. United States, 197 U.S. 516 (1905)
• Trono v. United States, 199 U.S. 521 (1905)
• Grafton v. United States, 206 U.S. 333 (1907)
• Kent v. Porto Rico, 207 U.S. 113 (1907)
• Kopel v. Bingham, 211 U.S. 468 (1909)
• Dowdell v. United States, 221 U.S. 325 (1911)
• Ochoa v. Hernández, 230 U.S. 139 (1913)
• Ocampo v. United States, 234 U.S. 91 (1914)

Insular Cases, hence, oftentimes include:

• DeLima v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 1 (1901) Argued: January 8–11, 1901 Decided: May 27, 1901
• Goetze v. United States, 182 U.S. 221 (1901) Argued: December 17–20, 1900; January 14–15, 1901. Decided: May 27, 1901
• Armstrong v. United States, 182 U.S. 243 (1901) Argued: January 8–11, 1901. Decided: May 27, 1901
• Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901) Argued: January 8–11, 1901. Decided: May 27, 1901
• Huus v. New York & Porto Rico S.S. Co., 182 U.S. 392 (1901) Argued: January 11, 14, 1901. Decided: May 27, 1901
• Dooley v. United States, 183 U.S. 151 (1901) Argued: January 8–11, 1901. Decided: December 2, 1901
• Fourteen Diamond Rings v. United States, 183 U.S. 176 (1901) Argued: December 17–20, 1900. Decided: December 2, 1901
• Hawaii v. Mankichi, 190 U.S. 197 (1903)
• Kepner v. United States, 195 U.S. 100 (1904)
• Dorr v. United States, 195 U.S. 138 (1904)
• Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1 (1904)
• Rasmussen v. United States, 197 U.S. 516 (1905)
• Dowdell v. United States, 221 U.S. 325 (1911)
• Ocampo v. United States, 234 U.S. 91 (1914)
• Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298 (1922)
• Torres v. Puerto Rico, 442 U.S. 465 (1979)