California v. Ross

February 4, 2019

Summary

The State of California has filed a lawsuit against Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross challenging the Commerce Department’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. California argues that the Department’s decision violates the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

This case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

Case Background

The State of California - along with several California cities and counties - is suing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Department of Commerce, the Acting Director of the Census Bureau, and the Census Bureau over the Commerce Department’s recent decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The addition of the question, California alleges, will deter non-citizens and their relatives from responding to the census and produce detrimental effects for states with large immigrant populations—including fewer congressional seats and billions of dollars in lost federal funding. Because a citizenship question will depress census responses, California contends, the decision to add it will inevitably lead to a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s requirement for an “actual enumeration” of every person residing in the country. California also argues that the Department’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act’s prohibition against “arbitrary and capricious” agency action, because the Department failed to adequately account for the undercount threat when formulating its position.

The plaintiffs are seeking both preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Census Bureau from including the citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

The court consolidated this case with another pending citizenship-question suit, City of San Jose v. Ross, for purposes of discovery and trial.

On August 17, the court denied the government's motion to dismiss, allowing the plaintiffs to proceed on both their Enumeration Clause claim and their Administrative Procedure Act claims. The court also granted the plaintiffs discovery beyond the administrative record.

During the motion to dismiss briefing, the Brennan Center filed an amicus brief with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, Muslim Advocates, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, NALEO Educational Fund, et al., supporting the plaintiffs in their efforts to block the citizenship question.

The court denied the government's motion for summary judgment, allowing the case to proceed to trial. The bench trial began on January 7, 2019. 

Key Documents

Brennan Center Filings

Filings, Orders and Opinions

2020 CENSUS