Federal Court Strikes Down 2020 Census Citizenship Question

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has denied the U.S. Government’s plan to include a ‘citizenship status’ question on the 2020 Census.

In a 126-page ruling U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg believed a “strong showing of bad faith” existed in the actions of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. In attempting to include the citizenship question the judge found that Ross had acted in “bad faith,” contravened law, violated the constitution and then tried to conceal his motives.

Judge Seeborg concluded that Ross was fully aware that including the question would produce a census undercount, particularly among Latinos. From there Ross then engaged in a “cynical search to find some reason, any reason” to justify his decision.

The judge believed the effect of such an undercount would be to reduce Latino representation in Congress from states with significant immigrant populations as well as in the Electoral College that decides the presidency.

Further, as census data is used to calculate the distribution of federal funds, an undercount would have also have a negative financial impact on those states, the judge added.

The suit had been filed by the State of California, Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the Cities of Fremont, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Stockton.

California was the first state to file a lawsuit, on the same day the decision was announced on March 26, 2018. The City of San Jose also prevailed in its lawsuit heard alongside the California case.

“Justice has prevailed for each and every Californian who should raise their hands to be counted in the 2020 Census without being discouraged by a citizenship question,” said the Attorney General for California, Xavier Becerra.

“We will ardently defend this important judgment to safeguard fairness in funding and representation for California and its local communities. We celebrate this ruling, an important step in protecting billions of dollars meant for critical services Californians rely on, from education, to public health and safety. We look forward to a 2020 Census free of partisanship, where every person can be counted equally and without prejudice.”

The ruling blocked the Trump Administration from including the citizenship question on the 2020 Census, holding that the question violates Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, which requires the “actual Enumeration” of all people in each state every ten years, and the Administrative Procedure Act’s prohibition against agency action that is “arbitrary and capricious” or contrary to law.

In January a judge in New York had issued a similar ruling which the U.S. Supreme Court had already agreed to review. It’s unclear at this time whether the Commerce Department will ask the court to review the California decision also. A spokesperson for the Commerce Department declined comment.

The California court’s decision can be viewed in full at: https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/205-final-decision-findings-fact-and-conclusions-law.pdf