Appeals Court Says the Census Case Is Not Over--Even if SCOTUS Upholds the Citizenship Question
Source: SLATE
The Supreme Court is set to rule on the Trump administrations addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census as soon as Wednesday. But if the five conservative justices uphold the citizenship question, as appeared the likely outcome following oral arguments, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a judge may block the question again over new evidence that further proves the questions illegality.
This last-minute development centers around information found on the files of Thomas Hofeller, the GOPs former gerrymandering guru. When he died last year, Hofeller left behind a trove of materials that his estranged daughter turned over to voting rights advocates. Among other things, these files suggested that Justice Department officials worked with Hofeller to devise a pretextual justification for the census citizenship question, asserting that it would aid enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. This pretext was meant to conceal the real reason for the question: It could, Hofeller explained, substantially reduce the voting power of Democrats and Hispanics while boosting that of Republicans and non-Hispanic Whites.
The new materials also provide a direct link between Hofellerwho, evidence shows, devised the false justificationand the Census Bureau. They seem to further demonstrate that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lied when he provided his rationale for the insertion of a citizenship question into the 2020 census. Plaintiffs argued that this evidence ties Hofellers work, which lays out the racist impact of a citizenship question, directly to the Trump administration. By doing so, they claim, it proves the question is motivated by unlawful animus.
Responding to these bombshells, U.S. District Judge George Hazel reopened the case on Monday. Hazel had initially determined that the questions addition violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitutions enumeration clause but did not find proof of discriminatory intent in violation of equal protection. He wrote on Monday that the new evidence, by contrast, potentially connects the dots between a discriminatory purposediluting Hispanics political powerand Secretary Rosss decision. It is, he wrote, becoming difficult to avoid seeing that which is increasingly clear. As more puzzle pieces are placed on the mat, a disturbing picture of the decisionmakers motives takes shape. And on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that Hazel may examine the new evidence and decide whether it proves the question is illegally discriminatory.
Read more: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/census-citizenship-question-hofeller-appeals-court.html
EleanorR
(2,374 posts)elias7
(3,976 posts)Perhaps some accountability? Somewhere?
former9thward
(31,806 posts)Please show legal precedent where the SC is overturned by a circuit court. Won't hold my breath...
JudyM
(29,122 posts)The Supremes are averse to challenging findings of fact unless theyre obviously unreasonable.
Response to pnwmom (Original post)
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