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Court rejects Senate reapportionment
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Posted on May 06 1999
The U.S. District Court yesterday upheld the Senate composition of three senators from each island and denied the complaint earlier filed by former Representative Torres and lawyer Jeanne Rayphand.
The “one person, one vote” provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment is not a fundamental right for citizens in the CNMI.
In the decision prepared by District Judges Alex R. Munson and John S. Unpincgo, and Senior Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace, the court concluded that the U.S. Congress was exercising its valid authority when it agreed to the NMI Covenant negotiators to deny Saipan voters the guarantee of the “one person, one vote” rights.
Moreover, even if the Covenant was entered into by local negotiators and the U.S. government, the CNMI remains unincorporated territory.
The complaint asserted that the composition of the CNMI Senate is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because of the great disparity in the population of the three senatorial districts.
Both were asking the court to list eight senators from Saipan and one each for Rota and Tinian.
The Court said several democratic countries which maintain the bicameral legislature, one house is often malapportioned like the United States.
“Since it is clear that the “one man, one vote” principal is not a right that is the “basis of all free government” it need not be applied in and to an unincorporated territory,” the decision said.
The Court cited the Atalig and Wabol cases where certain rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution were denied from both. Based on those contentions, the Court ruled that “fundamental rights” are not automatically applicable in the unincorporated territories like the CNMI.
Relieved over the news, Senate President Paul A. Manglona, meanwhile, hailed the decision, saying it is a testament to the “respect” accorded the Covenant.
“They upheld the Covenant based on the merits of the case and the delegation from Rota and Tinian is extending our congratulation to the lawyers who successfully defended our rights,” said the legislator from the First Senatorial district. with reports from B. Saladores
