Kutak Rock partner Dwyer Arce recently published an article in the Stetson Law Review of the Stetson University College of Law. The article, titled A Commonwealth for the Virgin Islands: A Proposal for an Autonomous Territory, was published as part of a symposium entitled Territorial Law Across the Curriculum. The article was prepared in anticipation of the Sixth Constitutional Convention of the Virgin Islands which convened in January 2025.
Dwyer is a former President of the Virgin Islands Bar Association and an advocate for greater rights for citizens living in U.S. territories. His article outlines the challenges previous constitutional conventions have faced in adopting a Virgin Islands constitution after Congress first gave the Virgin Islands the ability to do so in 1976. His article provides an historical analysis of previous constitutional conventions, the evolution of Virgin Islands self-governance, and the legal complexities surrounding the status of the Virgin Islands as an unincorporated U.S. territory.
Dwyer’s article serves as both a historical analysis and a roadmap for the future of the Virgin Islands. His article includes a draft of a constitution for consideration by the Sixth Constitutional Convention. This proposal, if adopted by the Convention, would establish the Virgin Islands as a Commonwealth in the same model as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. This model, he argues, would provide the territory with a greater degree of internal autonomy while maintaining its relationship with the United States. His article also highlights the limitations imposed by the Insular Cases, a series of Supreme Court cases from the early 1900s limiting constitutional rights in U.S. territories. As a result of these cases, he argues a Virgin Islands constitution is necessary to secure the constitutional rights of Virgin Islanders, which are now granted only through federal legislation.
Beyond constitutional governance, Dwyer addresses another critical issue: the absence of a law school in the Virgin Islands. He advocates for the establishment of a law school at the University of the Virgin Islands to develop legal expertise and constitutional law within the territory, ensuring that future generations of Virgin Islands lawyers are equipped to navigate and shape the legal landscape.
The full article, A Commonwealth for the Virgin Islands: A Proposal for an Autonomous Territory, is available here.
Dwyer focuses his practice on appellate proceedings in state and federal courts nationwide in addition to commercial trial litigation primarily in state and federal courts in Nebraska, Iowa, and the Virgin Islands. Dwyer was recognized as a “Lawyer of the Year” for appellate practice in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and has consistently been recognized for his appellate practice and commercial litigation practice by Best Lawyers®. Before entering private practice, Dwyer served for several years as the senior law clerk to Justice Maria M. Cabret of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands.