BIG DECISIONS

Supreme Court to Rule on Whether 2020 Census Can Include Trump’s Citizenship Question

The court allowed the Trump administration to fast-track the ruling.

The Supreme Court agreed to rule on the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census in April, The Los Angeles Times reported. In an order Friday, the high court agreed to let Trump bypass the appellate court system and take the case directly to the Supreme Court for a “fast-track” ruling. The court wrote that it would hear Department of Commerce vs. New York et al in the “second week of the April argument session.” Solicitor Gen. Noel Francisco reportedly argued that the case needed to be fast-tracked due to the government needing to print census forms for mailing by June. This comes after states argued that a citizenship question on the census would contribute to fears of immigrants, which could lead to an undercount of individuals living in the United States. A federal judge in New York previously blocked the question, and ruled that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “ignored the advice of census bureau experts and nearly a decade’s worth of planning.”