In an effort to tackle its insurmountable debt, Puerto Rico amended its bankruptcy code in 2014. The government in San Juan held out hope that this would give Puerto Rico the flexibility needed to restructure its debt and retard the sharp decline of the island’s economy.
While such a move directly countered federal law, amendment supporters insisted that this self-governing Commonwealth had the autonomy to take such steps. But the U.S. Supreme Court just blew that idea out of the water.
