Colleagues, here is an important announcement on the status of the citizenship question on the 2020 Census. This is good news indeed! As you may recall, the NCL is partnering with http://censuscounts.org, a coalition of organizations working to ensure fairness and accuracy in the 2020 Census. Other involved organizations include the http://ala.org and http://naleo.org/census. The NCL Board is also considering developing an amicus brief for submission to the Supreme Court as it takes up the citizenship question in late April. Our brief will focus on the potential (and some already realized) effects on adults with lower levels of reading proficiency in English if the Census count reflects inclusion of the citizenship question. If you have suggestions on content for the brief, please send them directly to me at mailto:deborah.kennedy@y-words.us. Thank you! Deborah Deborah Kennedy Senior Consultant / Owner, Key Words President, National Coalition for Literacy office: 202-364-1964 (September-May) office: 603-293-2402 (June-August) http://www.key-words.us http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org ============ Forwarded message ============ From: Beth Lynk <lynk@civilrights.org> To: "Corrine Yu"<Yu@civilrights.org>, "Sonum Nerurkar"<nerurkar@civilrights.org>, "Sergio Lopez"<lopez@civilrights.org> Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2019 14:26:40 -0500 Subject: [Census Taskforce] Update: Victory in Citizenship Question Lawsuit in California!! ============ Forwarded message ============ Dear Census Advocates, Some good news today! The judge in California ruled to remove the citizenship question, upholding the plaintiffs’ claim that Ross’ decision to add it violated the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. This is the second federal court decision blocking the administration’s plans to add the question. Congratulations to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and their clients on the victory! We recommend that groups elevate the decision on social media and in your communications. A key message to highlight below and some tweets to RT: https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1103361672553644039, https://twitter.com/vanitaguptaCR/status/1103364340802113536 and https://twitter.com/CensusCounts/status/1103366943338303488. Also here is a good NPR story to share: https://www.npr.org/2019/03/06/698886346/second-judge-blocks-trump-administrations-census-citizenship-question-plans KEY MESSAGE: The consensus is clear, the addition of the citizenship question to the 2020 Census was  unlawful and the Supreme Court should uphold the lower court rulings to remove the question. I'm also re-sharing the guidance we shared last month when we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court will be taking up directly the dispute over Commerce Secretary Ross’ decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. As a reminder, that oral argument is scheduled for April 23, 2019 and the amicus briefs are due on April 1, 2019.  We see today's ruling as another example of why SCOTUS should uphold the lower court rulings and conclude that the decision to add a citizenship question was contrary to law. Thank you, Beth Talking Points: The consensus is clear, the addition of the citizenship question to the 2020 Census was  unlawful and Supreme Court should uphold the lower court rulings to remove the question. The politically driven citizenship question compromises the Census Bureau’s constitutional responsibility to conduct a fair and accurate count of every person living in the United States. It is imperative that Congress take swift action to remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census so that census preparations can begin without the current cloud of uncertainty.   Getting the 2020 Census right is important for everyone – particularly those communities most likely to be undercounted. Additional background on congressional action: With the clock ticking toward a summer deadline for printing census forms and related materials, Congress must act now to remove the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over 2020 Census preparations while the issue makes its way through the courts.  We urge you to support legislative action that would remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census. The https://maloney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-maloney-introduces-bill-to-protect-2020-census-prohibit-citizenship, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D. NY) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D. Hawaii), would block the citizenship question from appearing on the 2020 Census, even though it doesn’t reference the question directly, since the question was not tested or reported to Congress as part of 2020 Census planning. The https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/201, introduced by Sens. Menendez (D. NJ) and Cortez Masto  (D. Nev.), would prohibit the Secretary of Commerce from including any question regarding one’s citizenship or immigration status on the U.S. census. Beth Lynk (she/ her) Census Counts Campaign Director  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference Education Fund 1620 L Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20036 602-750-6042 – mobile mailto:Lynk@civilrights.org  http://www.civilrights.org/ http://www.censuscounts.org PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments may contain privileged or confidential information and is/are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). 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