Justicia Federal en Caso Del Tribunal Supremo Del SSI para Puerto Rico
Justicia Federal en Caso Del Tribunal Supremo Del SSI para Puerto Rico
20-303
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
ELIZABETH B. PRELOGAR
Acting Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
BRIAN M. BOYNTON
Acting Assistant Attorney
General
EDWIN S. KNEEDLER
Deputy Solicitor General
VIVEK SURI
Assistant to the Solicitor
General
ABBY C. WRIGHT
LAURA E. MYRON
Attorneys
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
[email protected]
(202) 514-2217
QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether Congress violated the equal-protection
component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth
Amendment by establishing Supplemental Security
Income—a program that provides benefits to needy
aged, blind, and disabled individuals—in the 50 States
and the District of Columbia, but not extending it to
Puerto Rico.
(I)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Opinions below .............................................................................. 1
Jurisdiction .................................................................................... 1
Statutory provisions involved ...................................................... 1
Statement:
A. Legal background ............................................................ 2
B. Factual background and proceedings below ................ 6
Summary of argument ................................................................. 9
Argument..................................................................................... 11
A. The court of appeals erred in holding that
Congress’s decision not to extend the SSI program
to Puerto Rico lacks a rational basis ............................ 13
1. A court owes Congress substantial deference
when it assesses a law under the rational-basis
test ............................................................................ 13
2. Puerto Rico’s unique tax status and resulting
fiscal autonomy provide a rational basis for the
decision not to extend the SSI program to its
residents ................................................................... 15
3. The interest in advancing self-government and
longstanding practice reinforce the rationality
of Congress’s decision not to extend the SSI
program to Puerto Rico .......................................... 22
4. Congress also had rational grounds to treat
Puerto Rico differently than the Northern
Mariana Islands ....................................................... 27
B. Respondent errs in arguing that the differential
treatment of Territories warrants heightened
scrutiny ........................................................................... 28
1. The constitutional text establishes that
Congress may treat a Territory differently
than the States if it has a rational basis to do so ... 28
(III)
IV
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Cases:
Allen v. Cooper, 140 S. Ct. 994 (2020) .................................. 36
American Insurance Co. v. 356 Bales of Cotton,
26 U.S. (1 Pet.) 511 (1828) .................................................. 30
Armour v. City of Indianapolis, 566 U.S. 673
(2012) .............................................................................. 18, 39
Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497 (1954) ................................ 12
Califano v. Jobst, 434 U.S. 47 (1977) ................................... 21
Califano v. Torres, 435 U.S. 1 (1978) .......................... passim
Chappell Chemical & Fertilizer Co. v. Sulphur
Mines Co. No. 3, 172 U.S. 474 (1899) ................................ 33
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc.,
473 U.S. 432 (1985)........................................................ 34, 35
Comptroller of the Treasury v. Wynne,
575 U.S. 542 (2015).............................................................. 37
Corporation of Presiding Bishop of the Church of
Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints v. Hodel,
830 F.2d 374 (D.C. Cir. 1987), cert. denied,
486 U.S. 1015 (1988)............................................................ 38
V
Cases—Continued: Page
Coyle v. Smith, 221 U.S. 559 (1911) ..................................... 28
Currin v. Wallace, 306 U.S. 1 (1939) ................................... 32
Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471 (1970) .......... 14, 21, 40
District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co.,
346 U.S. 100 (1953).............................................................. 32
Examining Board of Engineers, Architects &
Surveyors v. Flores de Otero, 426 U.S. 572 (1976) ...... 2, 12
FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc.,
508 U.S. 307 (1993).................................................. 13, 14, 40
Financial Oversight & Management Board for
Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC,
140 S. Ct. 1649 (2020) ..................................25, 29, 30, 32, 39
Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U.S. 603 (1960) ........................... 14
Fort Smith Light & Traction Co. v. Board of
Improvement of Paving District No. 16,
274 U.S. 387 (1927).............................................................. 33
Friend v. Reno, 172 F.3d 638 (9th Cir. 1999),
cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1163 (2000) ..................................... 38
Gamble v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 1960 (2019) ................ 36
Gardner v. Michigan, 199 U.S. 325 (1905).......................... 33
Gonzales v. Thomas, 547 U.S. 183 (2006)............................ 37
Griffin v. County School Board, 377 U.S. 218 (1964) ........ 33
Harris v. Rosario, 446 U.S. 651 (1980) ...................... passim
Hayes v. Missouri, 120 U.S. 68 (1887) ................................ 33
Hodel v. Indiana, 452 U.S. 314 (1981)................................. 32
Hohn v. United States, 524 U.S. 236 (1998) ........................ 37
Jefferson v. Hackney, 406 U.S. 535 (1972) .......................... 14
Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools,
487 U.S. 450 (1988).............................................................. 33
King v. Burwell, 576 U.S. 473 (2015) ................................... 36
Lehnhausen v. Lake Shore Auto Parts Co.,
410 U.S. 356 (1973).............................................................. 18
VI
Cases—Continued: Page
Lyng v. International Union, United Automobile,
Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of
America, 485 U.S. 360 (1988) ............................................ 18
Madden v. Kentucky, 309 U.S. 83 (1940) ............................ 18
Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67 (1976) ................................... 25
McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420 (1961) ...................... 33
Missouri v. Lewis, 101 U.S. 22 (1880) ........................... 32, 33
Ngiraingas v. Sanchez, 495 U.S. 182 (1990) ....................... 36
North v. Russell, 427 U.S. 328 (1976) .................................. 33
Ohio Bureau of Employment Services v. Hodory,
431 U.S. 471 (1977).............................................................. 18
Ohio ex rel Bryant v. Akron Metropolitan Park
District, 281 U.S. 74 (1930) ................................................ 33
Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265 (1986) ............................... 33
Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) ........................................ 34
Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co.,
478 U.S. 328 (1986).............................................................. 35
Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust,
136 S. Ct. 1938 (2016) ......................................................... 36
Puerto Rico v. Russell & Co., 288 U.S. 476 (1933) ............. 35
Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. 1863
(2016) ......................................................... 2, 10, 23, 28, 30, 35
Quiban v. Veterans Administration, 928 F.2d 1154
(D.C. Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 918 (1994) .... 29, 38
Reinman v. City of Little Rock, 237 U.S. 171 (1915) ......... 33
Richardson v. Belcher, 404 U.S. 78 (1971) .......................... 14
Romeu v. Cohen, 265 F.3d 118 (2d Cir. 2001) ..................... 38
Salsburg v. Maryland, 346 U.S. 545 (1954) ........................ 33
San Antonio Independent School District v.
Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973) ....................................... 23, 33
Schweiker v. Hansen, 450 U.S. 785 (1981) .......................... 37
Schweiker v. Wilson, 450 U.S. 221 (1981) ..................... 19, 34
VII
Cases—Continued: Page
Secretary of Agriculture v. Central Roig Refining
Co., 338 U.S. 604 (1950) ...................................................... 31
Segovia v. United States, 880 F.3d 384
(7th Cir.), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 320 (2018) ................... 38
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996) .........17
Sessions v. Morales-Santana, 137 S. Ct. 1678 (2017) ........ 39
Swain v. Pressley, 430 U.S. 372 (1977) ............................... 31
Talon v. Brown, 999 F.2d 514 (Fed. Cir.),
cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1028 (1993) ..................................... 38
Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392 (2018) ............................ 39
United States v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 128 (D.C. Cir. 1984) ...... 32
United States v. Montijo-Maysonet, 974 F.3d 34
(1st Cir. 2020), petition for cert. pending,
No. 20-8072 (filed May 15, 2021) ....................................... 38
United States v. Pollard, 326 F.3d 397 (3d Cir.),
cert. denied, 540 U.S. 932 (2003) ....................................... 38
United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013)................... 25
United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz,
449 U.S. 166 (1980).............................................................. 25
Vance v. Bradley, 440 U.S. 93 (1979) ................................... 25
Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc.,
348 U.S. 483 (1955).............................................................. 27
Constitution, treaty, and statutes:
U.S. Const.:
Art. I:
§ 2, Cl. 1 ...................................................................... 29
§ 8 ............................................................................... 29
Cl. 1........................................................................ 30
Taxing Clause ................................................... 30
Cl. 4........................................................................ 31
Bankruptcy Clause .......................................... 30
VIII
Statutes—Continued: Page
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 .................................... 26
Social Security Act, ch. 531, 49 Stat. 620
(42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.):
§ 1101(a), 49 Stat. 647 ..................................................... 25
42 U.S.C. 401 .................................................................... 20
42 U.S.C. 402(a) ............................................................... 20
42 U.S.C. 404(b)(1) ............................................................ 7
42 U.S.C. 410(h)-(i) .......................................................... 20
42 U.S.C. 426(a) ............................................................... 20
42 U.S.C. 502 .................................................................... 26
42 U.S.C. 503 .................................................................... 20
42 U.S.C. 801(a)(2)........................................................... 26
42 U.S.C. 1301(a)(1) ................................................... 20, 26
42 U.S.C. 1308(f )-(g)........................................................ 26
42 U.S.C. 1381 .................................................................... 4
42 U.S.C. 1381 note ........................................................... 4
42 U.S.C. 1381a ............................................................ 4, 1a
42 U.S.C. 1382 .................................................................... 3
42 U.S.C. 1382 note ..................................................... 4, 3a
42 U.S.C. 1382(f )(1) ..................................................... 3, 1a
42 U.S.C. 1382c ............................................................ 3, 2a
42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)(1)(B)(i) ................................................ 3
42 U.S.C. 1382c(e) ............................................................. 3
42 U.S.C. 1383 .................................................................... 3
42 U.S.C. 1383 note ........................................................... 4
42 U.S.C. 1383(b)(1)(A) ..................................................... 7
42 U.S.C. 1384 note ........................................................... 4
42 U.S.C. 1385 note ........................................................... 4
42 U.S.C. 1395i ................................................................. 20
42 U.S.C. 1395w-114(a) ................................................... 26
X
Statutes—Continued: Page
42 U.S.C. 1396d(b) ........................................................... 26
42 U.S.C. 1760(f ).............................................................. 26
Social Security Act Amendments of 1950, Pub. L. No.
81-734, 64 Stat.:
§ 104(a), 64 Stat. 498 ....................................................... 26
§ 107, 64 Stat. 517 ............................................................ 26
Social Security Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. No.
92-603, Tit. III, § 301, 86 Stat. 1465-1478 ........................... 3
Sugar Act of 1948, 7 U.S.C. 1100 et seq. .............................. 31
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977,
30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq. .......................................................... 32
Tobacco Inspection Act, 7 U.S.C. 511 et seq. ...................... 32
7 U.S.C. 2012(r) ...................................................................... 26
26 U.S.C. 32 ............................................................................ 26
26 U.S.C. 36B ......................................................................... 26
26 U.S.C. 881-882 ................................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 933 .................................................................... 16, 20
26 U.S.C. 2209 ........................................................................ 16
26 U.S.C. 3121(e) ................................................................... 20
26 U.S.C. 3306( j) .................................................................... 20
26 U.S.C. 4081-4084 ............................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 4181-4182 ............................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 4251-4254 ............................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 4261-4263 ............................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 4375-4377 ............................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 4401-4424 ............................................................... 17
26 U.S.C. 5001-5690 ............................................................... 17
26 U.S.C. 5701-5763 ............................................................... 17
26 U.S.C. 7652(a) ................................................................... 17
26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(4)-(5) ......................................................... 16
26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(9)-(10) ....................................................... 16
XI
Statutes—Continued: Page
48 U.S.C. 1-2241 ..................................................................... 35
Ch. 4, 48 U.S.C. 731 et seq..................................................... 35
48 U.S.C. 731-916............................................................. 36
48 U.S.C. 734 .............................................................. 15, 17
48 U.S.C. 739-740............................................................. 17
Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code:
§ 1021.01(a)....................................................................... 17
§ 1022.01(b) ...................................................................... 17
§ 1022.02(b)(2) .................................................................. 17
Miscellaneous:
House Committee on Ways and Means, 115th Cong.,
2d Sess., Green Book: Background Material and
Data on the Programs within the Jurisdiction of
the Committee on Ways and Means (2018) ............... 20, 26
79 Cong. Rec. 6902 (1935) ..................................................... 15
96 Cong. Rec. 8891 (1950) ..................................................... 15
118 Cong. Rec. 33,991 (1972) ................................................ 15
122 Cong. Rec. 6244 (1976) ................................................... 24
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,
Report of the Undersecretary’s Advisory Group on
Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands (1976) ....... 24
H.R. Rep. No. 1300, 81st Cong., 1st Sess. (1949) ............... 15
Letter from R.L. Doughton, Chairman, House
Committee on Ways and Means, to William Green,
President, American Federation of Labor
(Apr. 19, 1935), in 79 Cong. Rec. 6902 (1935) .................. 25
Steven Maguire, Congressional Research Service,
R41028, The Rum Excise Tax Cover-Over:
Legislative History and Current Issues
(Sept. 20, 2012) .................................................................... 17
XII
Miscellaneous—Continued: Page
Press Release, U.S. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
Biden Statement on Puerto Rico (June 7, 2021),
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/
statements-releases/2021/06/07/statement-by-
president-joseph-r-biden-jr-on-puerto-rico/ .................... 40
Memorandum from Felix Frankfurter to the
Secretary of War, Re: The Political Status of
Porto Rico, in Civil Government for Porto Rico:
Hearings on S. 4604 before the Senate Committee
on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, 63d Cong.,
2d Sess. (1914) ..................................................................... 35
Memorandum from Michael Stephens, Supervisory
Actuary, Office of the Chief Actuary, Social Secu-
rity Administration, to Steve Goss, Chief Actuary,
Office of the Chief Actuary, Social Security Admin-
istration, Estimated Change in Federal SSI
Program Cost for Potential Extension of SSI
Eligibility to Residents of Certain U.S. Territories
- INFORMATION (June 11, 2020), https://www.
ssa.gov/OACT/solvency/SSIEligExt_20200611.pdf ........ 18
S. Rep. No. 1310, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. (1978)..................... 15
Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, 109th
Cong., 2d Sess., JCX-24-06, An Overview of the
Special Tax Rules Related to Puerto Rico and an
Analysis of the Tax and Economic Policy Implica-
tions of Recent Legislative Options (Joint Comm.
Print 2006) ..................................................................... 15, 16
U.S. Gov’t Accountability Office, GAO-14-31, Puerto
Rico: Information on How Statehood Would
Potentially Affect Selected Federal Programs and
Revenue Sources (Mar. 2014) .......................... 15, 16, 20, 21
U.S. Social Security Administration, SSI Monthly
Statistics, April 2021 (released May 2021) ........................ 3
In the Supreme Court of the United States
No. 20-303
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PETITIONER
v.
JOSE LUIS VAELLO-MADERO
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
OPINIONS BELOW
The opinion of the court of appeals (Pet. App. 1a-37a)
is reported at 956 F.3d 12. The opinion and order of the
district court (Pet. App. 38a-49a) is reported at 356
F. Supp. 3d 208. An additional opinion and order of the
district court (Pet. App. 50a-60a) is reported at 313
F. Supp. 3d 370.
JURISDICTION
The judgment of the court of appeals was entered on
April 10, 2020. The petition for a writ of certiorari was
granted on March 1, 2021. The jurisdiction of this Court
rests on 28 U.S.C. 1254(1).
STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED
Relevant statutory provisions are reprinted in an ap-
pendix to this brief. App., infra, 1a-4a.
(1)
2
STATEMENT
A. Legal Background
1. “Puerto Rico occupies a relationship to the United
States that has no parallel in our history.” Examining
Board of Engineers, Architects & Surveyors v. Flores
de Otero, 426 U.S. 572, 596 (1976). The island became a
territory of the United States in 1898, as a result of the
Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle,
136 S. Ct. 1863, 1868 (2016). The treaty that ended the
conflict and ceded the island to the United States pro-
vided that Congress would determine the “political sta-
tus” of the island’s inhabitants. Treaty of Paris, Dec.
10, 1898, U.S.-Spain, Art. IX, 30 Stat. 1759 (proclaimed
Apr. 11, 1899). “In the ensuing hundred-plus years, the
United States and Puerto Rico have forged a unique po-
litical relationship, built on the island’s evolution into a
constitutional democracy exercising local self-rule.”
Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. at 1868. That relationship,
founded on mutual respect, has benefited both the peo-
ple of Puerto Rico and the United States. Id. at 1874.
In 1900, Congress established a civilian government
for Puerto Rico and granted it significant autonomy
over internal affairs. See Foraker Act, ch. 191, 31 Stat.
77; Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. at 1868. In 1917, Congress
granted the island’s inhabitants U.S. citizenship. See
Organic Act of Puerto Rico, ch. 145, § 5, 39 Stat. 953.
Then, in 1952, Congress approved a constitution framed
and ratified by the Puerto Rican people. Act of July 3,
1952, ch. 567, 66 Stat. 327. Before ratification, Congress
removed a provision recognizing various social welfare
rights, including “entitlements to food, housing, medical
care, and employment,” and prohibited any future
amendment that would restore that provision. Sanchez
Valle, 136 S. Ct. at 1869.
3
1
The court of appeals stated that residents of Puerto Rico pay
more than $4 billion a year to the federal treasury, but that figure
includes the employment taxes discussed above. See Pet. App. 21a.
21
2
In Torres and Rosario, this Court stated without further elabo-
ration that including Puerto Rico in the SSI program “might seri-
ously disrupt the Puerto Rican economy.” Torres, 435 U.S. at 5 n.7;
see Rosario, 446 U.S. at 652. Although the court of appeals found
that the government had not relied on an economic-disruption ra-
tionale below, Pet. App. 16a, 18a, the government briefly argued in
the petition for a writ of certiorari (at 13-14) that extending SSI ben-
efits to Puerto Rico might discourage people from working. That
proposition, however, has been disputed as an empirical matter. See
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Report of the Un-
dersecretary’s Advisory Group on Puerto Rico, Guam and the Vir-
gin Islands 22 (1976). Following the change in Administration, the
United States has concluded that economic conditions in Puerto
Rico are more appropriately considered as a further justification for
Congress’s decision to respect Puerto Rico’s fiscal autonomy and to
leave it to the Commonwealth’s legislature to determine the appro-
priate level of benefits for its aged, blind, and disabled residents.
25
CONCLUSION
The judgment of the court of appeals should be
reversed.
Respectfully submitted.
ELIZABETH B. PRELOGAR
Acting Solicitor General
BRIAN M. BOYNTON
Acting Assistant Attorney
General
EDWIN S. KNEEDLER
Deputy Solicitor General
VIVEK SURI
Assistant to the Solicitor
General
ABBY C. WRIGHT
LAURA E. MYRON
Attorneys
JUNE 2021
APPENDIX
(1a)
2a
* * * * *
(e) For purposes of this subchapter, the term
“United States”, when used in a geographical sense,
means the 50 States and the District of Columbia.
* * * * *
3a
* * * * *
“SECTION 502. (a) The following laws of the
United States in existence on the effective date of this
Section and subsequent amendments to such laws will
apply to the Northern Mariana Islands, except as other-
wise provided in this Covenant:
“(1) those laws which provide federal services
and financial assistance programs and the federal
banking laws as they apply to Guam; Section 228 of
Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act as it
applies to the several States; the Public Health Ser-
vice Act as it applies to the Virgin Islands; and the
Micronesian Claims Act as it applies to the Trust Ter-
ritory of the Pacific Islands;
“(2) those laws not described in paragraph (1)
which are applicable to Guam and which are of gen-
eral application to the several States as they are ap-
plicable to the several States; and
“(3) those laws not described in paragraph (1) or
(2) which are applicable to the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands, but not their subsequent amendments
4a
* * * * *