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By Kent Larsen
Judge's Ruling Will Delay Resolution of Census Lawsuit
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- US District Court Judge Dee Benson declined a
request to impanel a special three-judge court to hear Utah's challenge to
the Census count, and in the process delayed the resolution of the case.
Benson ruled that calling the three judge panel required a challenge to the
count's constitutionality, but since Utah hadn't raised such a challenge, he
would have to hear the case himself.
Benson set a hearing on the case for March 20th, but the ruling effectively
added another step to the appeals process, because any appeal of his
decision must go to Denver's 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before being
presented to the US Supreme Court. Had the three judge panel heard the case
instead, an appeal could have gone directly to the Supreme Court.
"The denial of that request means . . . it could add a second step in the
appellate process. That could hold it up as long as a year," said Ray
Hintze, Utah chief deputy attorney general. "The ones that will really
suffer from the delay are Utah and North Carolina." Hintze adds that the
delay could add confusion to the redistricting process, scheduled to start
April 1st, "Neither state will know how to proceed until we get this
resolved. It will really complicate things for everyone and if, in fact, the
Census Bureau just moves forward with its decision, North Carolina would
probably go ahead and elect their congressman and we'd lose one term." But
Hintze said that Utah will likely still seek a ruling, even if North
Carolina gets the seat for the next election. "We don't want to wait 10 years."
In Utah's challenge to the census count, the state claims that the US Census
Bureau discriminated against LDS missionaries in the 2000 census. According
to the complaint and to Bureau statements, the Bureau excluded LDS
missionaries and other US citizens living abroad in its count while
including overseas Federal employees such as diplomats and military
personnel. As a result of this "disparate treatment," North Carolina was
apportioned an additional seat in the US Congress that would have otherwise
gone to Utah.
Utah would like the Bureau to either count LDS missionaries and other US
citizens living abroad, or not count any US citizens living abroad. Under
either scenario, Utah argues, it would get an additional seat. Utah Attorney
General Mark Shurtleff says that the count should either include or exclude
all US Citizens overseas. "This is arbitrary," said Shurtleff. "Either count
all of them or none of them. Either way, we would have gained the fourth
seat."
Sources:
Judge says Utah census suit won't get expedited appeal
Boston Globe (AP) 7Mar01 T1
Bid to Swipe N. Carolina's Seat in Congress Snags
Salt Lake Tribune 7Mar01 T1
By Brandon Loomis: Salt Lake Tribune
Setback to delay census lawsuit
Deseret News 7Mar01 T1
By Elyse Hayes: Deseret News Staff Writer
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