BREAKING: Judge Wants Another Crack At Census Case After Revelation Of New Evidence
Source: TPM
By Tierney Sneed June 19, 2019 4:24 pm
A federal judge wants to reconsider his ruling that the Trump administration’s move to add the census citizenship question was not racially discriminatory, now that the challengers in the case have put forward explosive new evidence that suggests it was.
U.S. District Judge George Hazel, who presided over the census citizenship case brought in Maryland, issued an order Wednesday that said that the challengers raised a “substantial issue” with the new evidence. It will ultimately be up to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case has been appealed, to decide whether to send the case back to him so that he can consider changing his ruling in light of the new evidence.
Hazel order is the latest dramatic turn in what has been an extraordinary legal fight over Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ decision to add the question. It sets the stage for a scenario where the Department of Justice and the question’s legal challengers are still hashing it out over whether the question is discriminatory, even after the Supreme Court rules on other aspects of the question’s legality.
Whether it stays on the census has incredible consequences for how political power, as well as government resources, are doled out across the country. A broad spectrum of experts, including the Census Bureau itself, has warned it will discourage immigrant participation, causing an undercount of those communities. Furthermore, the new evidence, and other evidence already in the case, strongly point to a plan to use the data from the question to exclude noncitizens altogether from the redistricting count. Such an overhaul would greatly diminish the representation Latinos and other immigrant groups get in government, while further shifting the electoral advantage to Republicans........................................
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