Supreme Court blocks 2020 Census citizenship question as 'contrived'; filings tie rationale to Hofeller partisan plan

Timeline Eventconfirmed
voting-rightsredistrictingadministrative-lawcensus
Electoral Manipulation
Actors:U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Supreme Court of the United States, Thomas Hofeller
2019-06-27 · United States · 1 min read

In Department of Commerce v. New York, the Supreme Court held that the Secretary's stated rationale for adding a Census citizenship question was "contrived" and set aside the decision. Separate court filings introduced the late GOP strategist Thomas Hofeller's 2015 study and documents indicating the citizenship question would advantage "Republicans and Non‑Hispanic Whites" and that Hofeller helped draft DOJ language used to justify the question.

Sources

  1. Department of Commerce v. New York (opinion PDF)Supreme Court of the United States(2019-06-27)
  2. NYIC Respondents' Notice of Filing (introducing Hofeller evidence)Supreme Court docket filing(2019-05-30)
  3. Reply in Support of Motion (Hofeller files quotations and context)Brennan Center (court filing host)(2019-06-04)