Supreme Court poised to issue 2018 term's final rulings on census citizenship question, partisan gerrymandering
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Chief Justice John Roberts is doing all in his power to help the Supreme Court not look overtly political as it moves ideologically to the right.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court completes its term Thursday with major decisions expected on partisan gerrymandering and the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
The term’s premier cases were left hanging until the last day following the court’s issuance of 19 other rulings over the past 10 days, including those on religious memorials, scandalous trademarks, racial discrimination in jury selection and the reach of the Freedom of Information Act.
Also up for grabs Thursday: Oklahoma’s authority over former Indian territory and a Wisconsin law authorizing blood draws from unconscious motorists.
The justices entered June with more than 30 cases still to be decided, but with most of the attention focused on the ones still pending.
More: Top cases of 2019
In the census case, the court must decide whether the Commerce Department acted properly in deciding to ask about citizenship on all census questionnaires for the first time in 70 years. Challengers in several lower courts have alleged hidden motives: to depress the headcount of noncitizens in predominantly Democratic states and cities.
The dispute has been complicated by late-breaking evidence challengers say points to partisan and racial motives, denied by the Justice Department. As a result, the Supreme Court’s action in a New York case may not end the battle, as a Maryland case still threatens timely printing of census questionnaires.
In two gerrymandering cases, the court must decide whether congressional district maps drawn by North Carolina Republicans and Maryland Democrats are so one-sided as to be unconstitutional. The justices have never before struck down partisan gerrymanders, and their decisions could have an impact in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and other states.
Based on the assignment of majority opinions to date, it appears that Chief Justice John Roberts and, possibly, Associate Justice Samuel Alito will be writing the census and gerrymandering decisions.Â
The court likely will issue final orders for the term on Friday, including whether to hear President Donald Trump’s effort to eliminate the DACA program that provides protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.Â
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Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, right, walks with deputy independent council, John Bates, left, and associate independent council, Brett Kavanaugh on Monday, June 23, 1997, in Little Rock, Ark. In a victory for Whitewater prosectors, the Supreme Court, Monday, rejected White House efforts to withhold notes that lawyers took of their conversations with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
![The formal 2018 portrait of the Supreme Court of the United States. Seated from left: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. Standing behind from left: Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.]()
1 of 38![Chief Justice John Roberts shakes hands with President Donald Trump before the president's first address to a joint session of Congress in February 2017.]()
2 of 38![Chief Justice John Roberts addresses his daughter's high school graduating class in 2018.]()
3 of 38![Chief Justice John Roberts speaks at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., in 2014.]()
4 of 38![New Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts walks down the steps of the court with Associate Justice John Paul Stevens after Roberts' investiture ceremony in 2005.]()
5 of 38![Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his 1991 confirmation hearing.]()
6 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia Thomas arrive for the funeral of fellow Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 2016.]()
7 of 38![President George H.W. Bush shakes hands with Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas after a news conference at the Bush compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1991.]()
8 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas speaks with a member of the clergy as they leave St. Matthew's Cathedral after the Red Mass in Washington in October 2016.]()
9 of 38![Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administers the oath of office to Vice President Mike Pence during the 2017 Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol on Jan 20, 2017.]()
10 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg acknowledges applause as she arrives to speak to Georgetown University law students in Washington, D.C., in 2017.]()
11 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia pose with members of the cast of Ariadne auf Naxos following a performance at the Washington National Opera in 1994.]()
12 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with documentary filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen at the RBG premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.]()
13 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg prepares to administer the Oath of Allegiance to candidates for U.S. citizenship at the New York Historical Society on April 10, 2018 in New York City.]()
14 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer speaks at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., in 2016.]()
15 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer descends a stairway at the French Cultural Center in Boston followed by center members Mary Ann Sorel and her husband Pierre Sorel in 2017.]()
16 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer participates in a panel at the Gewirz Student Center on the campus of Georgetown University Law Center in 2014.]()
17 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer attends a Hanukkah reception hosted by President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in 2017.]()
18 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito administers the oath of office to Hamilton Township, N.J., Mayor Kelly Yaede in 2016.]()
19 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito gestures while speaking to the graduating class at Georgetown University Law Center in 2016.]()
20 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito enjoys a laugh after accidentally breaking a glass before testifying to a House appropriations subcommittee in March 2019.]()
21 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor gives the commencement address to graduates at the University of Rhode Island in 2016.]()
22 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a diehard Yankees fan, talks with other fans in the Judge's Chambers before a game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in 2017.]()
23 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor gestures while speaking with actress Eva Longoria Baston to discuss Sotomayor's life story and promote her new book during an event at George Washington University in March 2019.]()
24 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor appears with actress Eva Longoria Baston to discuss Sotomayor's life story and promote her new book during an event at George Washington University in March 2019.]()
25 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan smiles as she testifies before a House appropriations subcommittee in March 2019.]()
26 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan leaves the White House Rose Garder after attending new Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch's ceremonial swearing-in ceremony in 2017.]()
27 of 38![Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan speaks at the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2014.]()
28 of 38![Swearing in of Coloradan Neil M. Gorsuch as the newest member of the, United States Court Of Appeals For The Tenth Circuit, with his wife Louise Gorsuch, holding the bible, and his two daughters, Belinda Gorsuch age 4, and Emma Gorsuch age 6 on Nov. 20, 2006 in Denver.]()
29 of 38![The late Justice Antonin Scalia and Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, who is in line to be his successor, on the Colorado River during a fishing trip.]()
30 of 38![Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch fist-bumps four-year-old Charles Marshall of Dover, Delaware, in a Senate office building hallway as he makes the rounds meeting senators during his 2017 confirmation process.]()
31 of 38![Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil M. Gorsuch, left, shares a laugh with Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.as he arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2017. Former New Hampshire Sen.]()
32 of 38![Prior to the investiture ceremony, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and his wife, Louise Gorsuch, stand outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on June 15, 2017.]()
33 of 38![Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, right, walks with deputy independent council, John Bates, left, and associate independent council, Brett Kavanaugh on Monday, June 23, 1997, in Little Rock, Ark. In a victory for Whitewater prosectors, the Supreme Court, Monday, rejected White House efforts to withhold notes that lawyers took of their conversations with Hillary Rodham Clinton.]()
34 of 38![Brett Kavanaugh shakes hands with President George W. Bush after he was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to be a judge to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as his wife Ashley looks on during a swearing-in ceremony at the Rose Garden of the White House June 1, 2006 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 57 to 36.]()
35 of 38![Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald J. Trump's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Vice President Mike Pence walk up the steps of the Capitol to meet with Senators in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2018.]()
36 of 38![Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2018 during his contentious confirmation hearing.]()
37 of 38![Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., administers the Constitutional Oath to Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh in the Justices Conference Room in the Supreme Court Building. Mrs. Ashley Kavanaugh holds the Bible on Oct 6, 2018 in Washington.]()
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