High court to rule on census suit evidence

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear arguments in a case revolving around the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman is currently presiding over part of a multistate lawsuit attempting to block the administration from adding the question to the decennial census.

That trial, in federal court in Manhattan, is almost finished, but related trials in California and Maryland are slated to start in January.

On Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it will address a limited issue involving the scope of evidence that should be allowed at trial. Oral arguments are set for Feb. 19.

The issue for the court is whether Furman may include the depositions of acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore and Commerce Department officials, as well as other evidence that was not part of the official record the Commerce Department compiled.

Last month the Supreme Court refused to delay the New York trial. That same month, the court also blocked a deposition of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the case but allowed other discovery to proceed.

Furman may rule on the New York case without testimony from Ross, which could affect the California and Maryland trials.

AP/JULIO CORTEZ Workers inspect rail lines Friday in Jersey City, N.J., as commuters across the state faced slow commutes after a blast of snow and sleet snarled traffic and led to a wave of criticism of Gov. Phil Murphy.