Supreme Court To Decide On Citizenship Question In 2020 Census

The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration may include a citizenship question on the 2020 census questionnaire.

The justices released a short order Friday granting the government’s appeal of a lower court order which struck the citizenship question from the census form. The high court will hear oral arguments on the matter in April and issue a decision by late June.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found that the administration unlawfully appended the citizenship question to the census survey in a sweeping January ruling, writing that the government had committed “a veritable smorgasbord of classic, clear-cut Administrative Procedure Act violations.”

A coalition of advocacy groups and left-leaning state and city governments sued the administration after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ordered the Census Bureau to include the citizenship question. The plaintiffs fear such questions discourages minority participation. Since seats in Congress and federal funds are apportioned on the basis of population, the plaintiffs fear losing legislative representation and federal aid.

This is breaking news. This post will be updated.