Right to Democracy issued the following statement after the Supreme Court’s decision in Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Centro De Periodismo Investigativo:

“The Supreme Court’s decision today highlights the broader problem of the undemocratic colonial framework governing Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. Because of today’s intervention by the Supreme Court, the oversight board will be allowed to continue ignoring the government transparency laws enshrined in Puerto Rico’s constitution. This is undemocratic at so many levels, from the initial creation of the imposed oversight board by a Congress where Puerto Ricans have no political rights to today’s decision by Justices nominated and confirmed through a process Puerto Ricans are structurally excluded from,” said Adi Martínez Román, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Right to Democracy, which works to confront and dismantle the colonial framework governing U.S. territories.

“Given the importance of the public transparency values at stake in the case, it is disappointing that the Supreme Court would rule for the oversight board without resolving whether its justification for refusing to follow Puerto Rico’s freedom of information laws is even valid. By the Court ‘assum[ing] without deciding’ the key issue in the dispute to rule for the Board, it becomes a ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ dynamic for the people of Puerto Rico,” said Neil Weare, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Right to Democracy.