[EL] more census craziness

Wed Jul 3 15:16:30 PDT 2019

That's one of the more candid comments I have seen from a DOJ lawyer in
recent years.

On Wed, Jul 3, 2019 at 2:30 PM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> DOJ is Looking For Path to Continue Adding the Citizenship Question on the
> Census After Trump Tweet: My Thoughts on What Happens Next
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106038>
>
> Posted on July 3, 2019 2:24 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106038> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> From the hearing
> <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M3Y6vj3QlQpSdlYcCdq3BkbnnWIrEPlf/view> before
> Judge Hazel today (via Tierney Sneed):
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *MR. HUNT: We at the Department of Justice have been instructed to examine
> whether there is a path forward, consistent with the Supreme Court’s
> decision, that would allow us to include the citizenship question on the
> census. We think there may be a legally available path under the Supreme
> Court’s decision. We’re examining that, looking at near-term options to see
> whether that’s viable and possible.*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * And so to the extent we can identify an option for that to work, if we
> continue to examine the decision and believe that we have a viable path
> forward to that work, our current plan would be to file a motion in the
> Supreme Court to request instructions on remand to govern further
> proceedings in order to simplify and expedite the remaining litigation and
> provide clarity to the process going forward.*
>
>
>
>
> * So as Mr. Gardner said, it’s very fluid at present because we are still
> examining the Supreme Court’s decision to see if that option is still
> available to us.*
>
> As noted earlier, the judge has given the parties until 2 pm Friday to
> clarify.
>
> When the census decision came out, I said at Slate
> <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/john-roberts-trump-census-question-supreme-court-october.html>that
> Chief Justice John Roberts left an opening to create a new rationale for
> including the citizenship question and to move forward. It would have been
> tough. The actions of the last few days, and the shifting position of the
> administration, makes it tougher. The courts are going to be incredibly
> skeptical. Still, given this President and his tweet earlier today, they
> may still try, and the issue could still be back up at SCOTUS this summer
> as I had earlier predicted.
>
> I feel badly for the other DOJ lawyer who remarked at the hearing:
>
> *MR. GARDNER: Your Honor, this is Mr. Gardner. I want to back up just a
> step and say that I’ve been with the United States Department of Justice
> for 16 years, through multiple Administrations, and I’ve always endeavored
> t be as candid as possible with the Court. What I told the Court yesterday
> was absolutely my best understanding of the state of affairs and,
> apparently, also the Commerce Department’s state of affairs, because you
> probably saw Secretary Ross issued a statement very similar to what I told
> the Court. The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the
> President’s position on this issue, just like the plaintiffs and Your
> Honor. I do not have a deeper understanding of what that means at this
> juncture other than what the President had tweeted. But, obviously, as you
> can imagine, I am doing my absolute best to figure out what’s going on.*
>
> This is a shitshow caused by DOJ’s client, and nothing else.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D106038&title=DOJ%20is%20Looking%20For%20Path%20to%20Continue%20Adding%20the%20Citizenship%20Question%20on%20the%20Census%20After%20Trump%20Tweet%3A%20My%20Thoughts%20on%20What%20Happens%20Next>
>
> Posted in census litigation <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rick Hasen
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>
> UC Irvine School of Law
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>
> 949.824.3072 - office
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
> [image: signature_45567762]
>
>
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-- 
Henry Weinstein
Writer, Teacher
cell phone 323-445-7006
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