Judge won’t delay census citizenship question trial

NEW YORK — A New York judge says a trial over putting a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. census will proceed Nov. 5 despite the Justice Department’s objection.

Federal Judge Jesse Furman ruled Friday, lashing out at Justice Department lawyers and two Supreme Court justices. The justices called the trial “highly unusual, to say the least.” Furman wrote that it “is the Government’s conduct in this case, not the Court’s review, that is ‘highly unusual, to say the least.’ ”

The trial comes after a dozen states and big cities sued, saying the citizenship question will discourage immigrants from participating and dilute representation and federal dollars for states that tend to vote Democratic. The Supreme Court recently blocked plans to depose the Commerce Department secretary.