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By Kent Larsen
Census Lawsuit Loses on Appeal
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The judicial panel created to hear Utah's challenge
to the 2001 census turned down the challenge yesterday, leaving Utah with
only the possibility of an appeal to the US Supreme Court. The three judge
panel rejected all of Utah's claims, relying heavily on a previous Supreme
Court decision, Franklin vs. Massachusetts, which allowed the Census Bureau
to include overseas federal employees and exclude others overseas in the
census.
Utah had argued that, like federal employees, LDS missionaries could be
accurately counted. But the panel, leaning on Franklin vs. Massachusetts,
ruled that the weren't sufficiently like federal employees because their
population was biased towards Utah and other western states, unlike federal
employees, and because they represent only a small fraction of the estimated
5 million US citizens living abroad. The panel also dismissed Utah's claim
that if missionaries are excluded, federal employee should also be excluded,
again citing Franklin vs. Massachusetts.
Addressing Utah's claim that leaving out missionaries violated their
religious freedom because religious duties kept them overseas, the panel
said Utah failed to show that the missionaries even knew that their service
left them out of the census, or cared that they weren't counted. The panel
also addressed Utah's amendment to the lawsuit, filed last week, that
claimed that the census bureau used statistical sampling. In their decision,
the panel said that Utah's amendment was too little, too late, and had no
link to the state's core arguments.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff released a statement following the
ruling, saying that Utah would appeal, "I believe now we owe it to the
people of Utah to take their case to the highest court."
Sources:
Judges Rule Against Utah's Census Lawsuit
New York Times (AP) 18Apr01 T1
By the Associated Press
Judges Reject Utah Census Claims
Salt Lake Tribune 18Apr01 T1
By Joe Baird and Dan Harrie: Salt Lake Tribune
See also:
Census Arguments Made, But Panel Raises Doubts About Counting LDS Missionaries
Census Judge Reverses Himself, Case to be Heard by Three Judge Panel
Judge's Ruling Will Delay Resolution of Census Lawsuit
Government's Census Reply Claims Utah Hasn't Suffered Damages
North Carolina Claims Census Lawsuit without Merit
Census Official That Cost Utah House Seat Is LDS
Some Say Missionaries Could Have Given Utah Additional US House Seat
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