on June 4, 1998, by the U.S. Department of State, that they were rescinding their acceptance, and refused to accept Mari Brás's renunciation, determining he could not renounce his United States citizenship as he did not request another national citizenship, and he was born and remains living and working in Puerto Rico. Colón vs. U.S. Department of State became a landmark case and is posted on the U.S. State Department's webpage. Puerto Rican citizenship After renouncing his U.S. citizenship and over 10 years of litigation arguing he was a citizen of Puerto Rico, Mari Brás received the first certificate of Puerto Rican citizenship from the Puerto Rico Department of State. He stated "I freed myself from the indignity of a false citizenship ... that of the country that invaded mine, which continues to keep the only country that I owe allegiance to as a colony." The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Secretary of Justice determined that Puerto Rican citizenship exists and was recognized in the Constitution of Puerto Rico. Since the summer of 2007, the Puerto Rico State Department has developed the protocol to grant Puerto Rican citizenship to Puerto Ricans. Former Puerto Rico Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Secretary of State Baltasar Corrada questioned the legality of the certification, citing a law passed in 1997, authored by Kenneth McClintock Hernández, which establishes United States citizenship and nationality as a prerequisite for Puerto Rican citizenship. Mari Bras' efforts generated vigorous public debate regarding the citizenship issue. Mari Brás is not the only Puerto Rican citizen to renounce his U.S. citizenship. Since Mari Brás' application, a number of other Puerto Rican citizens have also presented the required application papers before U.S. authorities to renounce their U.S. citizenship. According to The New York Times, "many other independentistas" followed in Mari Brás's footsteps and renounced their U.S. citizenship as well. The New York City-based El Diario-La Prensa reported in its April 30, 1998 edition that "thirteen more pro-independence Puerto Ricans had renounced their citizenship at the U.S. embassy in the Dominican Republic on April 27 [1998]". Later years Later in his life, Juan Mari Brás retired from active politics and no longer acted as president of the defunct Puerto Rican Socialist Party. He did continue to make appearances at pro-independence activities and continued to teach law at the Eugenio María de Hostos School of Law which he cofounded