Reading Room Document

Altering Puerto Rico's Relationship with the United States Through Referendum

Legislation conditioning a change in Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States on the results of one or more referenda by the Puerto Rican electorate, without subsequent congressional action, would be constitutional, insofar as the referendum or referenda presented voters in the territory with a limited set of options specified in advance by Congress. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2012-03-07-puerto-rico-ref/download.

March 7, 2012