SPLC Action Fund Responds to SCOTUS Decision to Halt Census Count

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The following statement regarding the Supreme Court's decision to halt the census count while litigation continues in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is by Nancy Abudu, deputy legal director for the SPLC Action Fund:

“Today, the Supreme Court issued yet another serious blow to our democratic system of government by ignoring the Constitution’s requirement that the Department of Commerce conduct a complete and accurate census count.  As Justice Sotomayor emphasized in her written dissent, ‘[t]he harms caused by rushing this year’s census count are irreparable.  And [communities] will suffer their lasting impact for at least the next 10 years.’ Those impacts will be felt across the board – in lost education, transportation, and healthcare funding essential for communities as well as in diminished political representation for their interests.”