U.S. Department of Commerce v. New York (Decision June 27, 2019)
“Census Case” heads back to the lower courts, but it’s unclear whether it will be resolved before the government must print the Census. On the last day of opinions for the 2018-2019 Term, the Supreme Court ruled on the highly anticipated “Census Case.” The Court did not outright reject the citizenship question, but it didn’t approve of it either. Chief Justice Roberts plus the Court’s liberal wing didn’t buy the government’s justification for adding the citizenship question. The 5-member Court majority sent the case back down to the lower courts. They said the government must go back and better explain itself. It’s unclear, however, if that can happen before the Census questionnaire will need to be printed for 2020. The case In 2018, the Commerce Department announced plans to add a citizenship question to the Census. Citizenship isn’t a novel question for the Census. In the long history of the U.S. Census, the government has asked about either citizenship or birthplace or something to ...