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Thursday, October 25th, 2018

SCOTUS issues stay blocking deposition of Trump official over citizenship question on 2020 Census

Author:     MATTHEW CHAPMAN
Source:     Salon/Alternet
Publication Date:     OCTOBER 23, 2018 8:10PM (UTC)
 Link: SCOTUS issues stay blocking deposition of Trump official over citizenship question on 2020 Census
Stephan:   Wilbur Ross is a stereotype of the Trumpian professional.   He looks responsible, he speaks in a measured way, he is an insider who clawed his way up in the world of greed where many Trumpians live but is, in fact, a professional liar and grifter. But that's not why I am running this report. I chose it because it is a first example of why the Republicans were so committed to getting Brett Kavanaugh confirmed on the Supreme Court, and the trend they have been trying to establish for the last several decades. If you control the Presidency and the Congress you can make the laws in such a way that you never break the law and, if there is any question, you have the court to interpret the laws in your favor. Our democracy is evaporating in front of our eyes, and forty some percent of us think that's fine.

Wilbur Ross
Credit: AP/Andrew Hamik

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued an emergency stay blocking the deposition of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the ongoing dispute over the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

The order, a victory for the Trump administration, puts any attempt to question Ross about his role in the inclusion of the question on hold, at least until the Court can hear the issue more fully. The Court’s decision overrules, for the time being, the order of U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who instructed Ross to submit to questioning from lawyers in the ongoing litigation of the Census.

While Ross is now unlikely to testify in the upcoming trial, which is scheduled for November 5, other depositions, including of Justice Department official John Gore, can proceed as planned. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, the far-right flank of the court, partially dissented on the grounds that if Ross’ deposition should be stayed, the entire process should be stayed as well.

The decision to […]

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