High Court upholds excluding Puerto Ricans from aid for disabled and blind
The 8-to-1 decision rested on prior decisions, but Justice Gorsuch, in a furious concurrence, called for reversing those precedents, which he said were based on "racial stereotypes."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Congress may continue to exclude Puerto Rican residents from a federal safety net program that provides direct payments to poor, disabled, and blind American citizens.
At issue was whether the Supplemental Security Income program can constitutionally exclude American citizens who reside in Puerto Rico. Congress established the program in 1972 to provide a minimum income for the neediest adults who are over 65, blind, or disabled. Conspicuously excluded from benefits were citizens
