Commentary

PRESS ROOM: NAACP Challenge to 2020 Census Preparations Moves Forward

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “[T]he census must be conducted in a way that will not thwart the goal of equal representation,” wrote U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm, in an opinion granting in part and denying a motion to dismiss brought by the Census Bureau. The ruling allows the case to proceed to discovery and potentially to trial.

Published

6 years ago

January 30, 2019

Oakland Post

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and its allies today won a major court ruling that allows them to proceed with a federal lawsuit challenging the government’s inadequate preparations for the 2020 Census.

“[T]he census must be conducted in a way that will not thwart the goal of equal representation,” wrote U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm, in an opinion granting in part and denying a motion to dismiss brought by the Census Bureau. The ruling allows the case to proceed to discovery and potentially to trial.

The suit, NAACP v. Bureau of the Census, No. 8:18-Cv-00891-PWG, was filed last March in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by the NAACP, Prince George’s County (MD), the NAACP Prince George’s County Branch, and two county residents. The complaint alleges that unless the Census Bureau significantly improves its plans for 2020, the upcoming census will drastically undercount African Americans and other people of color across the country. This undercount will contribute to unequal political representation and reduced federal funding for communities of color.

“It is imperative that the Census Bureau take steps immediately to minimize the undercount in communities of color and immigrant communities, especially given the likely impact of the underfunded census,” said NAACP General Counsel Brad Berry.

In his opinion, Judge Grimm emphasized the importance of ensuring adequate funding for census operations, especially given the recent 35-day government shutdown. “This ongoing state of uncertainty” makes it more likely that the Census Bureau “will be unprepared (in terms of funding, workforce, and testing) for the 2020 Census.”

The NAACP and its partners brought this lawsuit because the ongoing underfunding and understaffing of the Census Bureau violates its legal obligation to conduct a full and fair census. As the plaintiffs explain in their complaint, the Bureau has severely cut back on door-to-door canvassing, community partnerships, and field infrastructure—all of which are essential to encourage participation from communities of color. The government has also cancelled crucial pre-census field tests, even as it attempts to use new technologies and implement a brand-new digitization initiative.

“With fewer than 15 months to go before the 2020 Census, this decision comes at a critical time,” said Rachel Brown, a law student intern with the Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic, counsel for the NAACP and other plaintiffs. “We look forward to holding the Census Bureau to its constitutional obligation to count everyone equally.”

The plaintiffs are represented by the NAACP Office of the General Counsel, Jenner & Block, and the Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic.

Contact: Rachel Brown: 202-549-4411; rachel.brown@ylsclinics.org to speak with Yale Law School Rule of Law

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Oakland Teachers, Roots School Shut Down School Board Meeting

Don't Miss

State Will Expand Unemployment Benefits To Federal Employees Working Full-time For No Pay

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.