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 reveal immigration status the majority of the years. Since 2005, however, the government has had another means to get citizenship information and the question has dropped off of the survey.
When the question was set to reappear in the era of President Trump, however, some people became suspicious. The President has been accused of illegally targeting non-citizens in other policies, and a number of litigants challenged the citizenship question too. What was the government up to?
The government’s motivation
In this case, plaintiffs argued that the Commerce Secretary was using the citizenship question to dilute Democratic voting power. Knowing that the citizenship question would discourage people from answering the Census in Hispanic areas that tend to lean Democratic, the citizenship question would lead to an undercount in those areas, which would cause those areas less representation in Congress. Read more here
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 reveal immigration status the majority of the years. Since 2005, however, the government has had another means to get citizenship information and the question has dropped off of the survey.
When the question was set to reappear in the era of President Trump, however, some people became suspicious. The President has been accused of illegally targeting non-citizens in other policies, and a number of litigants challenged the citizenship question too. What was the government up to?
The government’s motivation
In this case, plaintiffs argued that the Commerce Secretary was using the citizenship question to dilute Democratic voting power. Knowing that the citizenship question would discourage people from answering the Census in Hispanic areas that tend to lean Democratic, the citizenship question would lead to an undercount in those areas, which would cause those areas less representation in Congress. Read more here
Comments
Post a Comment