On Sunday, August 19th Puerto Rico will vote on a referendum to amend parts of its local constitution. One amendment is to limit the right to bail on six different counts of homicide. The other amendment is to reduce the number of legislators from 78 to 56. Many on the island are uncertain of the true intentions behind the referendum, as both rise from the ruins of failed public policies by the two main political parties (PNP and PPD), who now seek to push forward these amendments with the consent and approval of the island’s electorate.

The first amendment is a disingenuous attempt at solving Puerto Rico’s suffocating crime and homicide rates, without tackling any of the much more serious deficiencies that have characterized the island’s judicial system, such as the rate of unsolved crimes/homicides solved (barely 36% of homicide cases in the past decade have even been presented to a judge) and arrests per homicide (only 43% of homicides result in a suspect being arrested [source]). This amendment has sparked a heated debate between people advocating, mostly through manipulation of people’s fears to vote YES, and the burgeoning grassroots movement that has started a campaign to vote NO. By the limiting the right to bail the whole concept of being innocent until proven guilty comes under serious threat and with the police department’s poor reputation of framing or falsely incriminating innocent people, many are up in arms over the matter. Read More...