People v. Suazo
People v. Suazo
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court sentencing the defendant to a twenty-five dollar fine for violation of Act No. 131, Laws of P..B., 1943 (p. 404), known as the Civil Eights Act of Puerto Eico. The defendant raises two questions of law: (1) he contends that the complaint does not allege sufficient facts to charge a violation of law; and (2) he asserts that the Civil Eights Act is unconstitutional.
The complaint was filed originally in the municipal court. It was sworn to by an Assistant District Attorney of San Juan and alleges that the crime was committed in the following manner: “That on August 14, 1943, and in the ward of Santurce, of the Judicial Municipal District of San Juan, P. B., which forms part of the Judicial District of San Juan, P. B., the defendant Salvador Suazo, illegally, voluntarily and maliciously, and acting on said date as owner and manager of the public business El Esquife, located in said ward of Santurce, denied entrance and equal treatment to said Esquife Club to the following persons: Paula Q. de Muriel, Mr. and Mrs. Jorge Haddock, Lt. Eafael A. Muriel and Capt. and Mrs. Eafael Pérez García, the aforesaid Salvador Suazo alleging that he denied entrance and equal treatment to said persons because they belonged to the negro race, and owing to the attitude of said Salvador Suazo, the aforementioned persons could not enter the Esquife Club on said date. Said action is contrary to Act No. 131, of 1943, §1, par. ‘A’.”
It can be admitted at once that the complaint is not well-drawn, particularly as it was prepared by an Assistant District Attorney, and not by a layman. Nevertheless, we are satisfied that, read as a whole, it states an offense under Act No. 131. In the first place, the defendant, in demurring to the complaint, accepted its allegations as true. And those
The argument of the defendant that the allegation that the defendant was operating a club means that this was a private club, which is not included in the definitions of “public business” found in §6(2), loses sight of the fact that the complaint also alleges that this club is a “public business”. A club operated as a public business must necessarily be “a place of amusement and recreation”, or a “place where . . . amusements are offered to the public”. (Section 6(2).)
We are unable to follow the defendant in Iris argument that Act No. 131 is unconstitutional in that it impairs his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. If anything, this and similar state statutes seek to implement and reinforce the rights conferred by that amendment. Indeed, the
The judgment of the district court will be affirmed.
That Section, reads in part as follows:
"Section 1. — (a) No person shall he denied in the Island of Puerto Eieo any access, service and like treatment in public places and businesses and in the means of transportation because of any political, religious, race, or color question, or because of any other reason not applicable to all persons in general."
Section 6 (2) reads as follows:
"The phrases 'place of public accomodation’ and 'public business’ shall, among others, mean auditoriums, assembly rooms, and other ifiaces of public meeting; barber shops, cafes, concert halls, pastry shops, department stores and all wholesale houses, stores, and factories where foodstuffs, medicines, beverages, provisions, merchandise, or services are sold or offered, advertised, or displayed for sale to the public; parks, stadiums and every other place of amusement and recreation; elevators, dining rooms, hotels, eating houses, inns, theatres, athletic* fields, gymnasiums, places where sporting events or competitions are held, and any other place where merchandise, services, or amusements are offered to th* public. ’ ’
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.