Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Next week, legal experts from U.S. Territories will come together for a virtual panel hosted by Right to Democracy to discuss the recent statement by Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas that the Territories Clause, “rightly understood,” does not “endow the federal government with plenary power … within the Territories.”

Moderated by Neil Weare, co-director of Right to Democracy, the panel includes Columbia Law Professor Christina Ponsa-Kraus, Rutgers Law Professor Rose Cuison-Villazor, Cesar Lopez-Morales, Counsel at Orrick, and Anthony Ciolli, co-author of the forthcoming legal casebook Law of U.S. Territories.

The Virtual Panel will take place:

• Monday, November 24th at 5pm EST, 6pm AST, and 11am in American Samoa
• Tuesday, November 25th at 8am in Guam/ Northern Mariana Islands

Among the questions the panel will address includes:

1. Where does the “plenary power” doctrine come from, and what does it mean for congressional power over U.S. territories? 
2. Does the text and history of the Territories Clause support the perpetual exercise of plenary power of people in U.S. territories? 
3. If not, what limits on congressional power might exist? 
4. What does this all mean for the future of democracy, self-determination, and the protection of Indigenous/cultural rights in U.S. territories?

This conversation is timely as we approach the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and 125th Anniversary of the Insular Cases next year and explore how the current undemocratic colonial framework governing U.S. territories is in tension with foundational U.S. values like “consent of the governed” and “all … created equal.” 

Attendees who wish to join may register for free at the following link.

Right to Democracy in a nonprofit organization that works to advance democracy, equity, and self-determination across U.S. territories without taking a position on status outcomes.