Balzac v. Porto Rico
| Balzac v. Porto Rico | |
|---|---|
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| Argued March 20, 1922 Decided April 10, 1922 |
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| Full case name | Balzac v. People of Porto Rico |
| Citations | 258 U.S. 298 (more) |
| Holding | |
| Sixth Amendment protections do not apply to unincorporated territories of the United States. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Taft, joined by McKenna, Day, Van Devanter, Pitney, McReynolds, Brandeis, Sutherland |
| Concurrence | Holmes |
| Laws applied | |
| Jones Act; Sixth Amendment | |
Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298 (1922), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution did not apply to territories not incorporated into the union. It originated when Jesús M. Balzac was prosecuted for criminal libel in a district court of Puerto Rico. Balzac declared that his rights had been violated under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as he was denied a trial by jury, since the code of criminal procedure of Puerto Rico did not grant a jury trial in misdemeanor cases. In the appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the lower courts on the island in deciding that the provisions of the Constitution did not apply to a territory that belonged to the United States but was not incorporated into the Union. It has become known as one of the "Insular Cases".
Jesús M. Balzac edited the newspaper El Baluarte. Balzac wrote an article referring indirectly to the colonial governor at the time, Arthur Yager; the article was considered libelous by the authorities. Pursuant to the Jones Act of 1917, which granted Puerto Ricans American citizenship among other guarantees, Balzac sought jury trial under the Sixth Amendment. In denying the request for jury trial, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico relied on two 1918 decisions by the United States Supreme Court: People v. Tapia, 245 U.S. 639 (1918), and People v. Muratti, also at 245 U.S. 639 (1918). These two per curiam decisions cited the earlier Insular Cases and held that provisions of the Bill of Rights were inapplicable to Puerto Rico even after the passage of the Jones Act.
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