In Re Department of Commerce, et al., Applicants

The Commerce Department asked the Supreme Court to stop discovery in a lawsuit over the 2020 Census and the planned citizenship question. The Court gave limited relief, pausing a September 21, 2018 district court order for a short time but refusing to block two earlier discovery orders.

There was no scheduled argument in this emergency stay matter. In an opinion by Justice Gorsuch, the Court granted the stay request in part and denied it in part, but the vote breakdown is not provided here.

“The application for stay presented to JUSTICE GINSBURG and by her referred to the Court is granted in part and denied in part.”

The order affected how quickly the census case could move and what information challengers could seek from Commerce officials. For example, it changed whether some district court discovery could go forward immediately while the government considered a further Supreme Court filing.

This emergency docket action is finished. The order gave the applicants a short window to seek further review through a petition for certiorari (the Court's decision to hear a case) or mandamus (an extraordinary order to a lower court).

The government wanted the Supreme Court to halt discovery in a census lawsuit tied to the planned citizenship question. The Court only partly agreed.

It affected whether district court discovery could continue right away. That mattered to the parties trying to gather evidence before census-related deadlines.

The applicants had a short deadline to file a petition for certiorari or mandamus. Otherwise, the lower-court litigation would keep moving under the existing orders.