| Santos P. Amadeo | |
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| Member of the Puerto Rico Senate from the district |
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| In office 1961–1964 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | Santos Primo Amadeo Semidey June 9, 1902 Salinas, Puerto Rico |
| Died | August 25, 1980 (aged 78) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan Northwestern University |
Santos Primo Amadeo Semidey (June 9, 1902 – August 25, 1980), a.k.a "Champion of Hábeas Corpus", was an educator, lawyer and former Senator in the Puerto Rico legislature.,[1] constitutional law scholar and is one of the founders of Phi Sigma Alpha Fraternity.[2]
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Amadeo Semidey was born in Salinas, Puerto Rico and received his elementary education in his hometown of Salinas and in the towns of Patillas and Fajardo. His family moved to Rhode Island where he attended and in 1923 graduated from East Greenwich Academy a high school. He was accepted to the University of Michigan, there he earned a bachelor degree in Arts and Sciences, specialized in Political Sciences. Later he studied law in Northwestern University where he earned his "Juris Doctor" in 1935.[3]
He earned his "Doctor in Law" while he taught as a professor in Columbia University in 1938. His doctoral thesis was titled "Argentine Constitucional Law", it was published by the "Columbia University Press". From 1928 to 1969, Amadeo Semidey taught in the University of Puerto Rico. He taught anthropology in the Social Sciences Faculty of the University of Puerto Rico and later he taught law in the University of Puerto Rico's Law School, where he was awarded the title of "Professor Emeritus". On October 22, 1928 he became a founding member of Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity and served as its first president.[4]
In 1939, Amadeo Semidey, besides teaching in the UPR, had his own private law practice. His contributions to the Law Sciences included numerous investigatory works such as: "Daños y Perjuicios por Muerte Ilegal"(1944); "Argentine Constitutional Law: The Judicial Function of the Federal System and the Preservation of Individual Rights"(1943); "La Revisión Judicial de la Comisión Industrial de Puerto Rico"(1946); "La Revisión Judicial de los Poderes del Gobernador de Puerto Rico"(1949); "Revisión Judicial de las Juntas Examinadoras"(1946); "El Habeas Corpus en Puerto Rico"(1948); "Los Poderes de los Tribunales de Puerto RIco para Castigar por Desacato"(1949); and "School of Penal Thought Reflected in Modern Penal Legislation"(1950).[3]
Amadeo Semidey served as legal counselor to the "Economic War Board" during World War II; to various committees in the US Senate; to the delegation of the "Partido Estadista Republicano" (Republican Statehood Party) and to the Puerto Rican Status commission.
Amadeo Semidey confronted the government of Puerto Rico when the government approved and executed the so-called laws of "La Mordaza". The infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" (Gag Law) or Law 53 as it was officially known, was a law passed by the Puerto Rican legislature on June 10, 1948 which made it illegal to display the Puerto Rican Flag, sing a patriotic song, talk of independence and to fight for the liberation of the island.[5] Amadeo Semidey, an expert in Constitutional Law, immediately used as a resource a "hábeas corpus" which questioned the constitutionality of the Law also known as Law Núm. 53. This resource was used in the Supreme Court in favor of Enrique Ayoroa Abreu, of Ponce. Amadeo Semidey was also a member of the group of lawyers who defended 15 members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who were accused of bracking the law of "La Mordaza".[6]
For many years he was the lawyer and representative in Puerto Rico of the American Civil Liberties Union. [7]
In 1960, He ran for the position of Senator in the Senate of Puerto Rico in representation of his political party. He served in said position from 1961 to 1964 upon the successful outcome of the elections. During the period in which he served in the legislature, he was the author of various laws which defended the civil rights of every Puerto Rican. Amadeo Semidey created and was responsible of the approval of the Concurrent Resolution Num. 1 which resulted in the creation of Civil Rights Commission in both the Senate and the Camera of Representatives of Puerto Rico.[3] He achieved that four out of five of his recommendations were incorporated onto the federal financial law of 1966. President Johnson gave Amadeo the pen which was used to sign the statute.[8]
In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, honored Amadeo Semidey was an "Honor Designation" for the contributions which he made to the fields of International Criminology and Criminal Justice.[1]
Amadeo Semidey died in San Juan on August 25, 1980.
The government honored his memory commissioning a statue of his likeness and by renaming the Judicial Court of San Juan "Edificio Doctor Santos P. Amadeo". His hometown, Salinas, also honored his memory by naming a Street in his honor.[1] In 2008 the government of Puerto Rico passed a law that June 9 was to be celebrated annually as "Doctor Santos P. Amadeo Birthday Commemoration".[3] There is a sculpture of him in the lobby of the Puerto Rico Bar Association headquarters.
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