Source: http://openjurist.org/435/us/1/califano-v-gautier-torres-a-califano
Timestamp: 2013-12-05 16:07:49
Document Index: 104000674

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1381', '§ 301', '§ 1201', '§ 1351', '§ 1381', '§ 1382', '§ 1614', '§ 1382']

435 US 1 Califano v. Gautier Torres a Califano | OpenJurist
435 U.S. 1 - Califano v. Gautier Torres a Califano Home435 us 1 califano v. gautier torres a califano 435 US 1 Califano v. Gautier Torres a Califano 435 U.S. 1
98 S.Ct. 906
55 L.Ed.2d 65
Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfarev.Cesar GAUTIER TORRES. Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Carmelo BRACERO COLON et al.
Nos. 77-88, 77-126.
Certain benefits under the Social Security Act, as amended in 1972, are payable only to residents of the United States, defined as the 50 States and the District of Columbia. The District Court for the District of Puerto Rico held in these cases that this geographic limitation is unconstitutional as applied to persons who upon moving to Puerto Rico lost the benefits to which they were entitled while residing in the United States. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, responsible for the administration of the Social Security Act, has appealed.1
* One of the 1972 amendments to the Social Security Act created a uniform program, known as the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, for aid to qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons. 86 Stat. 1465, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq. (1970 ed., Supp. V). This federally administered program replaced the federal-state programs of Old Age Assistance, 49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.; Aid to the Blind, 49 Stat. 645, 42 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq.; Aid to the Disabled, 64 Stat. 555, 42 U.S.C. § 1351 et seq.; and Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.
The exclusion of Puerto Rico in the amended program is apparent in the definitional section. Section 1611(f) of the Act, as set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 1382(f) (1970 ed., Supp. V), states that no individual is eligible for benefits during any month in which he or she is outside the United States. The Act defines "the United States" as "the 50 States and the District of Columbia." § 1614(e), as set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 1382c(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V). The repeal of the pre-existing programs did not apply to Puerto Rico. Thus persons in Puerto Rico are not eligible to receive SSI benefits, but are eligible to receive benefits under the pre-existing programs.2