By MacKenzie Belley | Cronkite News
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Census Bureau plan to end its counting a month earlier than planned, ruling in a suit joined last week by the Navajo Nation and Gila River Indian Community.
The order Saturday by U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh said the plaintiffs in the case — which also included civil rights groups, individuals and local governments including Harris County, Texas, and the city of Los Angeles — had raised “serious questions” about the bureau’s plan to stop counting, or enumeration, on Sept. 30
She ordered the bureau to put on hold any plans to wind down enumeration until at least Sept. 17, when a fuller hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled, and to keep counting in the meantime.
In an email Saturday to its managers, the Census Bureau said it and the Commerce Department are “obligated to comply with the Court’s Order and are taking immediate steps to do so” and that “enumeration will continue.”
