In Department of Commerce v. New York, the Supreme Court ruled that a question on citizenship could not be added to the 2020 census on the basis of the government’s proffered reasoning.
Louis S. Rulli, a practice professor at Penn Law, responds to this case as a standout decision in light of the current political landscape.
“In ordinary times, the addition of a single demographic question on the decennial census might not engender national controversy or spring to the top of the Supreme Court’s docket. But these are not ordinary times. The decennial census determines the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars yearly in federal funding for basic human needs and provides the basis for Congressional representation and redistricting. With such high stakes, partisan jockeying has no place in the objective and scientific compilation of census data and our federal courts have a solemn duty to reject governmental efforts to turn the census into a political tool aimed at ballot box advantages.”
Read more at Penn Law News.
