Abolition Democracy and Abolition Constitutionalism: A Constitutional Framework for Overruling the Insular Cases
A new abolition constitutionalism could seek to abolish historical forms of oppression beyond slavery, including settler colonialism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, ableism, and capitalism, and strive to dismantle systems beyond police and prisons, including foster care, regulation of pregnancy, and poverty. It could extend beyond the United States’ borders to challenge U.S. deportation policies and U.S. imperialism and to connect to freedom struggles around the world. . . . Its objective could extend beyond abolishing particular systems to establishing freedom for all—a new freedom constitutionalism. Footnote #1 content: Dorothy E. Roberts, Foreword: Abolition Constitutionalism, 133 HARV. L. REV. 1, 120–21 (2019) (footnote omitted).
The United States territories consist of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; all of the territories exercise self-governance while also being subject to U.S. sovereignty and congressional plenary power. Footnote #2 content: Developments in the Law: The U.S. Territories, 130 HARV. L. REV. 1616, 1617 (2017). Each territory is considered unincorporated and thus subject to different constitutional treatment than a state. Footnote #3 content: See Ross Dardani, Weaponized Citizenship: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of U.S. Citizenship Legislation in the Pacific Unincorporated Territories 2 (Dec. 15, 2017) (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut), https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/1671 [https://perma.cc/WW9K-8CE6]. Such unincorporated territories are defined as U.S. insular areas—“[a] jurisdiction that is neither a part of one of the several States nor a Federal district” Footnote #4 content: See Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations, U.S. DEP’T OF THE INTERIOR: OFF. OF INSULAR AFFS., https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes [https://perma.cc/HA4P-6E5B] (last visited Mar. 11, 2026). —in which the U.S. Congress has determined that only selected parts of the U.S. Constitution apply. Footnote #5 content: See Dardani, supra note 3, at 2. Only the most “fundamental” constitutional rights and protections are extended to residents of the territories, unlike the U.S. citizens residing in one of the fifty states who are automatically afforded the rights and protections of the Constitution. Footnote #6 content: See, e.g., Dorr v. United States, 195 U.S. 138, 148 (1904) (finding that Congress is not required to extend the right to a jury trial to the territories). As an Indigenous Chamoru Footnote #7 content: The Indigenous people of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands did not originally refer to themselves as “Chamorro,” as this name was introduced during Spanish occupation. Raquel Bagnol, CHamoru or Chamorro: The Spelling Confusion, PAC. ISLAND TIMES (Mar. 4, 2024), https://www.pacificislandtimes.com/post/chamoru-or-chamorro-the-spelling-confusion [https://perma.cc/9NYW-YZW3]. In 1993, following a series of public hearings, the Chamorro Language Commission “announced its decision to change the official spelling of ‘Chamorro’ to ‘Chamoru’ to conform to the Chamorro Standard Orthography” (the official spelling system for written Chamorro). Gina E. Taitano, Chamorro vs. Chamoru, GUAMPEDIA, https://www.guampedia.com/chamorro-vs-chamoru [https://perma.cc/2G58-HBZ7] (last visited Mar. 11, 2026). Proponents of the spelling “Chamoru” argue that the spelling “Chamorro” reflects Spanish orthography, and the spelling “Chamoru” represents “a conscious decision to take ownership of an otherwise borrowed name.” Id. However, the Twenty-second Guam Legislature mandated “Chamorro” as the official spelling through a 1994 law. Id. While “Chamorro” is the official spelling, I make the conscious decision to use “Chamoru” to refer to the Indigenous people of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as my way of honoring my ancestors and denouncing Spanish colonization. living in the fifty states, I am afforded more rights and constitutional protections than my family members living in Guam. Chamorus are the “Indigenous people of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.” Footnote #8 content: Chamorro, ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITTANICA, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chamorro [https://perma.cc/4S4T-26LT] (last visited Mar. 11, 2026).
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