Panel I Constitutional Interpretation, Federal Power, and the Insular Cases • February 4, 2026

WELCOME

Welcome to the Symposium on the Law of the U.S. Territories, presented by St. Mary’s University School of Law in collaboration with the authors of the forthcoming Carolina Academic Press volume, The Law of the United States Territories.

This one-day symposium brings together judges, scholars, advocates, and practitioners from across the territorial and constitutional law community to examine how U.S. territorial status continues to shape democracy, citizenship, and governance across America’s island jurisdictions.

SYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW

The symposium examines how U.S. territorial law continues to shape questions of sovereignty, citizenship, and democracy across America’s island jurisdictions. Through conversations with leading scholars, judges, and practitioners, the program explores the constitutional foundations of territorial status, the lived consequences of unequal governance, and emerging pathways for reform.

Panel I — Constitutional Interpretation, Federal Power, and the Insular Cases

Panelists and Presentations:

• Puerto Rico, the Insular Cases, and the Court: Colonial Legacies, Contemporary Doctrine, and Prospects for Redress

   • Steven P. Lausell Recurt— Clinical Professor, Inter American University School of Law; Co-Director, Access to Information Project

• Constitutional Interpretation, History, and the Exclusion of Territorial Law
• Michael L. Smith, J.D. — Associate Professor of Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law
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• Who Serves Whom? Territorial Officers, Federal Sovereignty, and the Appointments Clause
• Zoe Niesel, J.D. — Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law
• Sígrid Vendrell-Polanco, J.D. — Assistant Professor of Law & Englehardt Research Fellow, St. Mary’s University School of Law