Case Summary

On August 18, 2020, the National Urban League, along with other organizations, individuals, and administrative regions, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Wilbur Ross in his role as Secretary of Commerce challenging the Census Bureau's changes to the 2020 census timeline. In April 2020, the Census Bureau adopted a modified, extended timeline for conducting 2020 census operations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, however, on August 3, 2020, Secretary Ross and the Census Bureau Director changed course and implemented a new, shortened timeline. Plaintiffs' suit alleges that the decision to discard the COVID-19 timeline and shorten the amount of time the Census Bureau would have to complete the 2020 Census would increase the likelihood of inaccuracies, thereby violating the constitutional and federal statutory obligations to reasonably conduct an accurate decennial census. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief barring the Census Bureau from proceeding with its shortened timeline and to re-implement the previous COVID-19 plan and timeline.

On September 24, 2020, the district court granted the plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction requiring the Census Bureau to continue collecting responses past September 30 and invalidating the December 31, 2020, deadline for the Census Bureau to release the apportionment numbers. Defendants appealed the district court's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and requested a stay of the district court's injunctive order pending its appeal. On October 7, 2020, the Ninth Circuit partially granted and partially denied the defendants' stay request, allowing the census count to continue until October 31, 2020. On October 13, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States overruled the Ninth Circuit and issued a total stay of the district court's preliminary injunction order, thereby allowing the Census Bureau to cease their counting operations.

On April 22, 2021, the parties entered a joint stipulation requesting the district court dismiss the action after reaching an agreement regarding the Census Bureau's actions taken and to be taken to ensure the accuracy of the 2020 census data. The court accepted the parties' stipulation, and dismissed the action on April 22, 2021.

Case Library

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division - 5:20-cv-05799

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - No. 20-16868

Supreme Court of the United States - No. 20A62

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division - No. 5:20-cv-5799

National Urban League v. Ross
Tweet This