Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. - Eighth Amendment, United States Constitution

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

¡Henderson el Maine!” said Manuel to his wife Serving, as he read the newspaper on February 16, 1898. “They sank the Maine!

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

Her heart now pounding, a strange feeling of combined fear and happiness invaded her. She took a deep breath. Her lungs filled with fresh air. An invigorating rush of electricity all over her body overcame her. “So, is this how falling in love feels?” she thought. She knew the answer.

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

He woke up to knocks on his door. “Just a minute!” he said out loud. “I’m coming!” He got up and straightened himself as he opened the door.“Best!” he said, overcome with emotion. He held her and never let go.

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. - Sixth Amendment, United States Constitution

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

In Sing Prison, in a ghastly white room stands a chair. Its parts are heavy joining of oak, riveted and screwed together; its strong legs fastened to the floor with teeth and claws of steel. It bites into the marrow of men with fangs of fire. For this is the footstool of bloody human justice, the prayer-chair of man’s vengeance upon man. Into it are strapped ... men who have killed other men. In it, for a high moral purpose, erring human lives are shocked across the barrier into night and the grave. - Edward H. Smith (1918)

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

It’s over,” said Cardona to the town’s men at the Casey Arcadia (city hall). “Word is that the United States Flag is waving in Juanita, Como and at El Morro and San Cristóbal Castles in San Juan. Puerto Rico is now United States territory.”“Another transition!” Manuel sighed. “What will this bring?

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

Manuel acquired as much land as he could afford and refused to sell it to anyone, even if he was not planting anything on it. “La Terra no see NCAA” (“the land does not perish”), he often said.

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

Manuel adapted well to the Puerto Rican culture and its African and Taíno Indian influences, which permeated into the local language. Taíno words such as Tabasco (tobacco), barbacoa (barbecue), canon (canoe), and Jamaica (hammock) remain in use today in Spanish, English and other world languages. Also, the word cigar or cigar is derived from the Taíno word six’AR, a Taíno gathering or festival where tobacco played a main role.

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini

No person … shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law …- Fifth Amendment, United States Constitution

— Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini