<P> The bill, which resembled the Smith Act passed in the United States, was signed and made into law on June 10, 1948, by the U.S. appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero, and became known as "Law 53" (Spanish: Ley 53). </P> <P> In accordance with this law, it would be a crime to print, publish, sell, exhibit, organize or help anyone organize any society, group or assembly of people whose intentions are to paralyze or destroy the insular government . Anyone accused and found guilty of disobeying the law could be sentenced to ten years of prison, be fined $10,000 (U.S.), or both . According to Dr. Leopoldo Figueroa, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, the law was repressive and in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees Freedom of Speech . He asserted that the law as such was a violation of the civil rights of the people of Puerto Rico . The law was repealed in 1957 . </P> <P> In 1950, the U.S. Congress granted Puerto Ricans the right to organize a constitutional convention via a referendum that gave them the option of voting their preference, "yes" or "no", on a proposed U.S. law that would organize Puerto Rico as a "commonwealth" that would continue United States sovereignty over Puerto Rico and its people . Puerto Rico's electorate expressed its support for this measure in 1951 with a second referendum to ratify the constitution . The Constitution of Puerto Rico was formally adopted on July 3, 1952 . The Constitutional Convention specified the name by which the body politic would be known . </P> <P> On February 4, 1952, the convention approved Resolution 22 which chose in English the word Commonwealth, meaning a "politically organized community" or "state", which is simultaneously connected by a compact or treaty to another political system . Puerto Rico officially designates itself with the term "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in its constitution, as a translation into English of the term to "Estado Libre Asociado" (ELA). </P>

When did puerto rico became a commonwealth state