CENSUS CHALLENGERS TELL SCOTUS TO HOLD THE PHONE | JPS Gives Special Nod To Supreme Court Reporters | Anita Hill Wants Leaders To Step It Up
June 13, 2019
HOLD PLEASE
|Lawyers who sued to block the citizenship question from being added to the Census have asked the Supreme Court to hold off on making a decision in the case. They said that if justices aren’t prepared the affirm lower court rulings blocking the question, they should send the issue back to the lower courts to consider new allegations stemming from recently revealed evidence regarding the GOP’s motivations. Instead of deciding the case on “an incomplete and misleading record,” the challengers want SCOTUS to have lower courts do more fact-finding on the issue. Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, DALE HO, said, “The significance of this case cannot be overstated. The Census happens once a decade, and there is no chance for a do-over.”
IN CASE YOU'VE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK
|Dara Lind and Libby Nelson with Vox offer us an explainer on the fight over adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. They note that one of the latest developments came yesterday when the House Oversight Committee recommended holding holding COMMERCE SECRETARY WILBUR ROSS and ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas in the committee’s investigation into how and why the question was added.
I JUST CAN'T DENY
|“The fight between Congress and PRESIDENT TRUMP over Census documents revolves around one crucial issue: discerning the true motive of the Trump administration when it made a historic decision to ask all residents in the country if they were an American citizen.” That’s Michael Wines with The New York Times also covering the ongoing battle over the 2020 Census. He notes, “A growing body of evidence — unearthed in lawsuits seeking to block the question — suggests that the administration added the question to entrench Republicans in power.”
OUT-WONKING THE REST
|David Leonhardt with The New York Times takes a look at ANDREW YANG, the “policy-focused dark horse candidate” who Leonhardt says has released more plans than “even the famously substantive ELIZABETH WARREN.” Yang’s website includes 100 proposals, and he’s come out in favor of a number of policies including the increasingly popular suggestion of Supreme Court term limits.
A GOLD STAR FROM STEVENS
|Kate Shaw with SCOTUSblog interviewed retired JUSTICE JOHN PAUL STEVENS in which they discussed his new book and the process of writing it. He also gave a special nod to the Supreme Court reporters who he said “do a remarkably good job.” He told SCOTUSblog, “To read Monday’s output and summarize it in time for the next edition of the paper requires some pretty intelligent work.”
STEP IT UP
|At the New Rules Summit in Brooklyn, NY, ANITA HILL spoke with Jessica Bennett of The New York Times about the impact her 1991 testimony against CLARENCE THOMAS had on her life and her work. Hill called for a greater recognition of gender-based violence in the political sphere, and stronger leadership on the issue.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Mitch McConnell, Too, Welcomes Russian Interference
The New York Times“McConnell works closely with the White House to put conservative judicial nominees on the federal bench. It’s his key priority…He needs a good relationship with the president. Why, then, would he give this legislation a chance to pass? Why antagonize an ally?”
Prosecutors Are Shaping Privacy Law, And Your Privacy Isn't Their Priority
The New York Times“Congress is way behind in determining how far the police can go in using technology to invade people’s privacy, and many of the legal disputes arising from this collision have not reached the Supreme Court. For the public, as a practical matter, the rules of the road are being decided by prosecutors. Your privacy is not their highest priority.”