Baltasar Corrada del Río (April 10, 1935 – March 11, 2018) was a Puerto Rican politician. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission,

Resident Commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such ...

(1977–1985), Mayor of the capital city of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

(1985–1989), Puerto Rico's 15th Secretary of State (1993–1995) and

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

(1995–2005). He was also the unsuccessful NPP candidate for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in the elections of 1988.

Education

Corrada del Río obtained his high school diploma from

Colegio Ponceño Colegio Ponceño is a Roman Catholic, Piarist, pre K-12 preparatory school located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The institution "has been recognized by the College Board as the best among public and private schools in Puerto Rico during the last 14 ...

de Varones in 1952, and both his bachelor's degree in Social Studies in 1956 and his law degree from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

in 1959. He was admitted to the Puerto Rico Bar that year and practiced as a private

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

from 1969 to 1975.

Political career

In 1976, after initially expressing an interest in becoming Mayor of

and running in an unofficial internal primary within the NPP, Corrada del Río was elected

Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico () is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years, the only member of the House of Representatives ...

. During his tenure (1977–1985), he advocated for the admission of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

into the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and co-founded the

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) is a Hispanic nonprofit and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) leadership development organization established in 1978 by organizing members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and is headquartered in ...

. Corrada served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 1985 to 1989 (having won the 1984 mayoral election). In the elections of 1988, Corrada made an unsuccessful bid to become

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

. He was defeated by incumbent Governor

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

. In January 1993,

Pedro Rosselló Pedro Juan Rosselló González, (; born April 5, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, a ...

became

and appointed Corrada as Puerto Rico's 15th Secretary of State. Later, in 1995, Rosselló appointed Corrada as Associate Justice of the

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ( es, Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico) is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme cou ...

. He took the oath of office on July 15, 1995, after unanimous confirmation in the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

. During his tenure as Associate Justice, Corrada was among the moderate/conservative voices in the Court, usually adhering to strict interpretations of the Constitution while practicing a firm type of

judicial restraint Judicial restraint is a judicial interpretation that recommends favoring the status quo in judicial activities; it is the opposite of judicial activism. Aspects of judicial restraint include the principle of stare decisis (that new decisions s ...

. The

Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is the controlling government document of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government a ...

mandates an obligatory retirement for the Justices of the Supreme Court at age 70. Corrada arrived at this age in April, 2005, and was forced to retire. Prior to his retirement, Corrada publicly asked for an amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the obligatory retirement age for the justices, arguing that by obligating people to retire the constitution is discriminating by reason of age. At the time of its enactment in 1952, the average life expectancy in Puerto Rico was 61 years, 9 less than the mandatory retirement age. In 2013, the mandatory retirement age was 9 years less than the average life expectancy of 79. The Court seat left vacant by Corrada remained vacant until 2009. Governor

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born 13 February 1962) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus (LL.M. 1987) and a graduate of the University of Puer ...

did not nominate anyone for the position after then-Senate President

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s Na ...

made it clear in his inaugural speech as Senate president in 2005 that only a well-qualified statehooder would muster the votes for Senate confirmation to Court seats previously held by statehooders in order to assure "balance" on the bench. He was eventually succeeded in 2009 by Rafael Martinez-Torres, appointed by a Corrada protege, governor

Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first secretary of econom ...

. Corrada last served as " of counsel" to Puerto Rico's largest law firm, McConnell Valdés, of which he had been a partner prior to holding elective office. upon his retirement from the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, he announced that he would abstain from political activity for one year, and on March 14, 2006 announced that within a month would begin attending

New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico The New Progressive Party ( es, Partido Nuevo Progresista, PNP) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood. The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both ...

meetings, as former party president, to provide discrete advice. He also publicly disagreed with then-party president

Pedro Rossello Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

by objecting to the expulsion of then-Senate President

and then-Vice President

Orlando Parga Orlando Parga Figueroa (born February 6, 1939, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican politician and former member of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He served as President pro tempore of the Senate from 2005 to 2009. Early years and studies ...

from the party for refusing to turn over the Senate presidency to Rossello. The expulsion was later revoked by the Supreme Court.

Personal life

He was the brother of

Álvaro Corrada del Rio Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

and of a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. Another of his sisters was the

Puerto Rico Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party ( es, Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, PIP) is a social-democratic political party in Puerto Rico that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States. Those who follow the PI ...

candidate for mayor of San Juan in 1988, when he was elected to the post. He was married to Beatriz Betances, who served as

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

of San Juan during his term as mayor, and had one daughter, Ana Isabel, three sons: Juan Carlos, Jose and Francisco; as well as several grandchildren: James Gregg, Michael Gregg, Alexis Marie, and Mayra. In 2013 his wife died he was too ill to travel for the funeral services held in Morovis, Puerto Rico.Baltasar Corrada del Río
on

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Death

Baltasar Corrada del Río died on Sunday March 11, 2018 in Fort Myers, Florida at 82 years of age. By the time of his death he suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. His ashes were interred in the farm he was born in Morovis, Puerto Rico on March 24, 2018.

Honors and recognitions

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) issued a medal honoring Corrada and three other founding members. In 2010, former Puerto Rico Secretary of State McClintock designated the department's summer internship program as the Baltasar Corrada del Río State Department Internship Program. Distinguished students such as Josue Rivera, former National President of the

Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association (PRSSA) es, Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas de Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1979, and re ...

, participated in the First Class of interns. On November 24, 2010 a ceremony was held at the

Puerto Rico Department of State The Department of State of Puerto Rico was created in July 1952 and is responsible of promoting the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico, other jurisdictions of the United States and foreign countries. History The ...

to announce the publication of Baltasar Corrada Del Río-Sus opiniones 1995-2005 a book containing excerpts from 61 of his Supreme Court opinions edited by

Pontifical Catholic University A pontifical university is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law) and at least one other faculty. These academic institute ...

Law School dean Angel González Román, at which Acting

and Chief Justice

Federico Hernandez Denton Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Artists * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ. * Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, ...

were the keynote speakers.

References

External links

Hispanic Americans in Congress: Corrada del Río
* * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Corrada Del Rio, Baltasar 1935 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Puerto Rican lawyers Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Deaths from dementia in Florida Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Puerto Rico Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians People from Morovis, Puerto Rico Presidents of the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) Puerto Rican lawyers Resident Commissioners of Puerto Rico Secretaries of State of Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni 20th-century American judges