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Administrative Law Keyed to Aman
Department of Commerce v. New York
Citation:
139 S. Ct. 2551 (2019)Facts
The Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, announced in March 2018 his decision to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 census questionnaire. He stated that he was acting at the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which sought improved citizenship data for Voting Rights Act enforcement. The Census Bureau had warned that adding the question would likely reduce response rates, particularly among noncitizen households, and recommended using administrative records instead to obtain more accurate citizenship data. The Secretary rejected this recommendation, concluding that the need for complete citizenship data outweighed concerns about reduced response rates.
Evidence later revealed that the Secretary had begun considering adding a citizenship question shortly after taking office in early 2017, well before the DOJ’s December 2017 request. Records showed that Commerce Department officials had sought to persuade other agencies, including DOJ, to request citizenship data. The Secretary had personally contacted the Attorney General about the matter before DOJ made its formal request. When the Census Bureau offered to meet with DOJ to discuss alternative ways to meet its stated need for citizenship data, DOJ declined.
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