Editing Luis Muñoz Marín (section)

===Passage of Law 53 (the Gag Law)===
[[Image:Jayuya1950.gif|left|200px|thumb|Puerto Rican flag removed by an American soldier]]
In 1948,  the [[Puerto Rican Senate]] passed [[Law 53]], also known as the Gag Law, which would restrain the rights of the independence and Nationalist movements in the island. Marin was instrumental in the passage of this law as he was in control of the Senate at the time.  The passage of the law allowed him to arrest any suspected nationalist without cause or due process and so allowed him to squash any potential question to his authority.<ref>[http://academiajurisprudenciapr.org/en/revistas/volumen-vii/ Dr. Carmelo Delgado Cintrón, "La obra jurídica del Profesor David M. Helfeld (1948–2008)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327121629/http://academiajurisprudenciapr.org/en/revistas/volumen-vii/ |date=March 27, 2012 }}, ''Academia Jurisprudencia''</ref>

The ''Ley de la Mordaza'' (a [[Gag order|gag law]]) passed the legislature on May 21, 1948, and was signed into law on June 10, 1948, by the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, [[Jesús T. Piñero]]. It closely resembled the anti-communist [[Smith Act]] passed in the United States, and was perceived as an effort to suppress opposition to the PPD and the independence movement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topuertorico.org/history5.shtml |title=Puerto Rican History |publisher=Topuertorico.org |date=January 13, 1941 |access-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201150442/http://www.topuertorico.org/history5.shtml |archive-date=December 1, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under this law it became a crime to own or display a [[Flag of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican flag]] anywhere, even in one's own home. It also became a crime to speak against the [[U.S. government]]; to speak in favor of Puerto Rican independence; to print, [[publish]], sell or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government; or to organize any society, group or assembly of people with a similar destructive intent. Anyone accused and found guilty of disobeying the law could be sentenced to ten years' [[imprisonment]], a fine of $10,000 (US), or both.<ref>"Jaime Benítez y la autonomía universitaria"; by: Mary Frances Gallart;  Publisher: CreateSpace. {{ISBN|978-1-4611-3699-6}}</ref>

According to Dr. [[Leopoldo Figueroa]], a member of the ''Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño'' (Puerto Rican Statehood Party) and the only non-member of PPD in the Puerto Rican House, the law was repressive and in direct violation of the First Amendment of the [[U.S. Constitution]], which guarantees [[freedom of speech]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/leyes2006/lexl2006282.htm |title=Ley Núm. 282 del año 2006 |access-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165415/http://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/leyes2006/lexl2006282.htm |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Figueroa pointed out that every Puerto Rican was born with full citizenship, and full U.S. constitutional protections.<ref name="LG">{{Cite web |url=https://issuu.com/jaimepartsch/docs/jes_s_t._pi_ero_y_la_guerra_fria?mode=a_p |title=La Gobernación de Jesús T. Piñero y la Guerra Fría |date=May 31, 2008 |access-date=February 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713132356/http://issuu.com/jaimepartsch/docs/jes_s_t._pi_ero_y_la_guerra_fria?mode=a_p |archive-date=July 13, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Muñoz Marín used Law 53 to [[arrest]] thousands of Puerto Ricans without [[due process]] – including members of other [[political parties]], and people who did not vote for him.<ref name="Malavet" /><ref name="NBC News 2019">{{cite web | title=Uncovering the roots of fury in Puerto Rico with Julio Ricardo Varela: podcast and transcript | website=NBC News | date=30 July 2019 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/uncovering-roots-fury-puerto-rico-julio-ricardo-varela-podcast-transcript-ncna1036116 | access-date=25 August 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825032310/https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/uncovering-roots-fury-puerto-rico-julio-ricardo-varela-podcast-transcript-ncna1036116 | archive-date=August 25, 2019 | url-status=live }}</ref>