Third Judge Blocks Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

A third judge has blocked the controversial citizenship question that the Trump administration wants to have included in the 2020 census. The question asks: “Is this person a citizen of the United States?”

U.S. District Judge George Hazel for the United States Court for the District of Maryland found the decision to include that question on the 2020 census to be unlawful.

The judge ruled on two separate, but related, cases that had been merged together. One was Robyn Kravitz v United States Department of Commerce. The other was La Unión Del Pueblo Entero v. Wilber Ross (United States Secretary of Commerce).

Judge George Hazel wrote in his ruling: “The unreasonableness of Defendants’ addition of a citizenship question to the Census is underscored by the lack of any genuine need for the citizenship question, the woefully deficient process that led to it, the mysterious and potentially improper political considerations that motivated the decision, and the clear pretext offered to the public.”

The first judge to block the citizenship question was U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman for the Southern District of New York. Judge Furman found that Wilber Ross’s decision to add the citizenship question to be unlawful because of “a veritable smorgasbord of classic, clear cut” violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, including cherry-picking evidence to support his choice.”

The second judge to block the citizenship question was U.S. District Judge for the Court of Northern California, Richard Seeborg. He found that the citizenship question violates the Constitution’s Enumeration Clause, which requires “actual enumeration” of all people in each state every ten years.

The Supreme Court of the United States will hold a hearing about the New York case on April 23, 2019. The Justices will decide whether adding the citizenship question to the 2020 census is unconstitutional, and whether adding the question violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

The United States Supreme Court is expected to reveal about whether or not the citizenship question can be included in the 2020 census by June of 2019.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* The Controversial Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census

* Citizenship Question on 2020 Census Blocked by Judge

* Second Judge Blocks Citizenship Question from 2020 Census

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