News 09 Apr. 2024
Curtis Announces New Partners and Counsels Across Offices in Spring 2024
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News 25 Jan. 2024
Counsel Mohannad A. El Murtadi Suleiman Addresses “Africanization” of International Investment Law
Event 18 Aug. 2023
Partner Borzu Sabahi Speaks at FDI Moot Shenzhen
News 25 Jul. 2023
Partner Eric Gilioli Ranked in Top 10 Influential Energy & Natural Resources Lawyers in Kazakhstan in Business Today
Client Alert 28 Dec. 2023
U.S. to Impose Secondary Sanctions on Non-U.S. Banks For Financing Russia’s Defense Industry
News 28 Aug. 2024
Curtis Recognized for Excellence in Arbitration in Chambers Latin America Guide 2025
Event 22 Aug. 2023
Partner Dr. Claudia Frutos-Peterson to Speak at Arbitration and ADR Commission of the ICC Mexico
News 15 Aug. 2023
Legal Reader Publishes Article on Dr. Majed Alotaibi’s Arrival as Senior Counsel in Curtis’ Riyadh Office
News 31 Jul. 2023
Curtis Welcomes Senior Saudi Advisor, Dr. Majed Alotaibi, to its Riyadh Office
News 24 Aug. 2023
Curtis Attorneys Quoted in CoinDesk on FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Strategy Ahead of His Criminal Trial
Client Alert 10 Jul. 2024
EU Adopts New Restrictive Measures Against Belarus
Client Alert 26 Jun. 2024
The EU Adopts its 14th Sanctions Package Against Russia
news
Legal 500 UK Recognizes Curtis Practices and Attorneys in 2025 Edition
Curtis Attorneys Featured in IBA Insolvency and Arbitration Working Group’s New Reports
About Us
The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico issued a decision in March 2019 in favor of Curtis pro bono client and Puerto Rico resident Jose Luis Vaello Madero.
The case arose from a suit brought by the United States against our client to recover SSI benefits he received after he moved from New York State to Puerto Rico.
Curtis successfully invoked the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to attack the exclusion of Puerto Rico from the SSI program under the Social Security Act, arguing that such exclusion impermissibly discriminates against a historically disadvantaged and politically powerless “discrete and insular minority.”
This statutory exclusion of Puerto Rico residents had survived previous challenges due to the continuing validity of the racially motivated Supreme Court decisions from the early 1900s known as the “Insular Cases.” Curtis challenged the continuing validity of the Insular Cases, noting that the Supreme Court’s equal protection jurisprudence had evolved to the extent that such cases were no longer good law.
Judge Gustavo Gelpí agreed that Puerto Ricans – who are U.S. citizens by birthright – cannot be subjected to disparate treatment outside the ordinary bounds of the Fifth Amendment simply because they reside in a territory rather than one of the constituent States. The decision is a significant step towards granting Puerto Rico residents full constitutional protections.
In April 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the earlier District Court Decision in favor of Curtis client and Puerto Rico Resident Mr. Madero. More on that decision here.
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