The Civil Rights Commission ( es, Comisión de Derechos Civiles) is an official entity within the

legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico ( es, Asamblea Legislativa de Puerto Rico) is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, responsible for the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The Assembly is a bi ...

charged with investigating violations of citizens'

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. The commission is empowered to educate citizens about their civil rights, investigate alleged civil rights violations, and carry out studies and investigations. Amendments to its organic law also empowers it to appear as a "

friend of the court An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...

" in cases that the commission deems to have an important effect on civil rights in Puerto Rico.

Overview

The commission was created in 1965 under governor

Roberto Sánchez Vilella Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the '' Partido Popular Democrático''. He is also the fou ...

as an independent agency under the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. But it was not until 1996 that the commission was made part of the legislative branch, due, in part, to the efforts of governor

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 ...

. The commission is known to speak to and educate children in Puerto Rico's elementary schools about their civil rights. Equal rights for the Puerto Rican LGBT community are defended by the commission. Structurally, the entity is composed of five members that are appointed to a six-years term by the

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 ...

, subject to the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...

of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Its current members include its chair, Georgina Candal Segurola, Esther Vicente Rivera, Rosemary Borges Capó, Ruth Miriam Perez Maldonado and Hiram A. Meléndez Juarbe. Other individuals that have served in the commission include former Sen.

Luis Muñoz Rivera Luis Muñoz Rivera (July 17, 1859 – November 15, 1916) was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico in union with Spain. In 1887, Muñoz Rivera became part ...

, newspaper publisher

Antonio Luis Ferré Antonio Luis Ferré (born February 6, 1934) is the Chairman of the Board of the Ferré-Rangel business emporium which owns Puerto Rico's largest newspaper, ''El Nuevo Día'', as well as ''Primera Hora'' newspaper. Ferré is the son of former Go ...

, former

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 ...

Baltasar Corrada del Río 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 (1977–19 ...

, and the late Efraín González Tejera. In spite of complaints that the commission is chronically underfunded, the entity has had a significant influence in Puerto Rican government operations. In mid-2019, it requested

Julia Keleher Julia Beatrice Keleher (born November 15, 1974) is an American educator, former Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) under the Ricardo Rosselló administration and a federal convict for public corruption. Early life and ...

, the Secretary of Education, be investigated for comments she made about how contracts were being awarded. Keleher ended up being arrested for breaking the law and her arrest along with

Telegramgate Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate or RickyLeaks, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application ...

contributed to then Governor

Ricardo Rossello Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...

having to resign from his position as governor. In late 2019, the commission demanded to know the number of inmate deaths that have occurred over the last five years, fearing that perhaps inmates' rights are being violated while incarcerated in Puerto Rico's prisons and jails. The commission also annually selects the recipients of the

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

Award, which recognizes the commitment to civil rights of one law student from each of Puerto Rico's three law schools.

References

External links

Official website
{{Legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico 1965 establishments in Puerto Rico Civil rights organizations in the United States Legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico