Financial Oversight Board v. CPI (22-96)
argument 22-96Financial Oversight Board v. CPI
Supreme Court of the United States
56 min
7 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 6 days ago
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Transcript
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What is the constitutional basis for the Financial Oversight Board’s authority over Puerto Rico?
You'll hear argument today in case twenty two ninety six, Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. versus Centro de Periodismo Investigativo.
Council? Mr Chief Justice, and may it please the court. In twenty sixteen, Congress established the Oversight Board and assigned it the critical task of leading Puerto Rico back to fiscal health. Congress enacted a number of protections for the board. One of them is Section twenty one twenty six A of PRMISA. which gives the federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over any and all suits against the board. But the First Circuit below held that twenty one twenty six A abrogated the Board's immunity, in fact that it did so for every type of suit, federal and territorial. That decision was wrong and should be reversed. In order to abrogate, a statute must be clear and unmistakable on its face. There is nothing
in section twenty one twenty six A that even comes close This court has held many times that jurisdictional provisions do not abrogate because the power to hear a case says nothing about the availability of a defense. And mere textual inferences do not qualify.
How does the First Circuit’s decision interpret § 2126A and its effect on the Board’s immunity?
Separately, CPI has raised the issue whether Puerto Rico, and therefore the board, is entitled to sovereign immunity. The board believes the Court need not reach that issue, but if it does, The court has repeatedly held for more than a hundred years that Puerto Rico has immunity. It held that way before Puerto Rico's Constitutional Assembly in the nineteen fifties. And since then it is said that Puerto Rico has a degree of sovereignty excuse me autonomy comparable to a state. CPI's theory that Puerto Rico has immunity only in its own courts would mean that Puerto Rico or its governor or other officials could be sued under Puerto Rico's own law in federal court. That would be a sea change for Puerto Rico.
and an extremely harmful one. I welcome the Court's questions.
Uh it what would be the difference if Puerto Rico were a state, uh uh in your argument?
I think as far as this argument would would be concerned, there would not be a difference.
How would the uh Congress be able to uh Uh. adopt or enact uh promisa and apply it to a state in this manner.
There may be a a a uh difference in the source of authority that Congress would rely on. It wouldn't be Article four, of course, um, but the uh Congress has the power to to abrogate in appropriate circumstances as long as it has that power. And the same rule would apply of clear and unmistakable um a clear and mystical statement of intent to abrogate.
Just one final question. The um Yeah. Would you uh I know you are your preference is to assume uh uh immunity, but would you since I prefer not to assume immunity, Would you tease out a bit your basis for a territory uh having sovereign immunity? And with respect to the uh applying sovereign immunity in courts, are those uh federal courts, for example, a superior court, or is it a territorial court or one of the local courts?
Sure. So our our position is that the um Sovereign immunity of a territory is part of a large body, a large doctrine of constitutional common law or common law sovereign immunity. It goes by different names. The idea behind it is that once Congress um gives certain attributes of sovereignty through an organic act, for example, to a territory, then uh the common law basically dictates that as a result of the sovereignty that it has at that point. point it's entitled to immunity both in its own courts and in federal court. There are two different strands though which I want to emphasize, both of which are associated with com with uh sovereign immunity, but they're important the rationales are slightly different.
One of them is the principle that a sovereign cannot be hailed into uh into a court without uh consenting um to being held that way. That principle would mean that uh Puerto Rico could not be sued against without his consent in federal court. But there's a second strand, which I think is even more powerful here, which is that a sovereign as a lawmaker, part of this sovereignty or the a the aspect of being a lawmaker is the power and the autonomy to decide who the law applies to.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the constitutional basis for the Financial Oversight Board’s authority over Puerto Rico?
0:00–1:13
2
How does the First Circuit’s decision interpret § 2126A and its effect on the Board’s immunity?
1:13–8:16
3
Does Puerto Rico possess sovereign immunity, and how does that impact lawsuits against the Board?
8:16–15:16
4
How do the arguments compare Puerto Rico’s immunity to that of states and tribal nations?
15:16–23:34
5
What is the “clear‑statement” rule, and why might it apply (or not) to this case?
23:34–32:15
6
Should the Court remand for further analysis of sovereign‑immunity and waiver issues?
32:15–41:51
7
What evidence exists of Congress’s intent regarding immunity for Puerto Rico in the PROMESA statutes?
41:51–51:33
8
What are the parties’ final positions and the Court’s next steps in this petition?
51:33–56:25