Make no mistakes, the Constitution wasn’t approved to further government interest or its police power, but rather it was made to guarantee our individual rights, with the less government intervention possible.
Article II, Section 6 of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Constitution estates that “people shall freely associate and organize for any lawful purpose”.
Nonetheless, there are more than one hundred licensed occupations in Puerto Rico, with people being mandated to be part of an association to be able to work legally in those areas, even if the job is not related to safety or health. (See
https://ij.org/report/license-to-work-3/report/licensing-in-puerto-rico/).
During the last couple of years, we are seeing an increase in cases being brought before local courts to challenge these mandates, for violating people’s freedom of association.
The most recent of these cases was resolved by our Supreme Court on June 23rd,2023,
Vélez Colón, et als vs. Colegio de Optómetras de Puerto Rico, 2023 TSPR 78. It was brought by optometrists, challenging the law mandate for them to be part of the institution it created, to pay annual membership to be able to practice their profession and earn income, even though a Board of Examiners existed for the same purposes, and by virtue of law.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico asked the Supreme Court to answer if the existence of a Board of Examiners for the optometrists, invalidated the compulsory college mandate. The Government affirmed that instead of applying strict scrutiny, the Supreme Court should validate the mandate, if it furthered effectively the interest of the State.
However, what the Supreme Court had “to determine is if the law disposition that mandated optometrists' compulsory membership is the least restrictive means to further the compelling interest of the State to regulate the practice of this profession and foresee people’s health.
We responded in the negative, optometrists' compulsory membership is not indispensable to further the interest of the State, and therefore, it’s unconstitutional.”
Judge Martinez
You can read Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruling at: https://dts.poderjudicial.pr/ts/2023/2023tspr78.pdf