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U.S. newS Dialuna 7 September 2020

Census Bureau must temporarily halt winding down operations

By MIKE SCHNEIDER steps to do so." Further guid-
Associated Press ance would be provided later,
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — the bureau said.
The U.S. Census Bureau Associate director Al Fon-
for now must stop follow- tenot said it would be diffi-
ing a plan that would have it cult to bring back census tak-
winding down operations in ers who had been laid off if
order to finish the 2020 cen- the bureau was forced to go
sus at the end of September, back to the plan that has the
according to a federal judge's head count ending in Octo-
order. ber, and that the current crop
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of census takers had been
in San Jose, California, is- much more efficient than in
sued a temporary restraining past decades, allowing the
order late Saturday against count to end on the faster
the Census Bureau and the timetable.
Commerce Department, As of Saturday, more than
which oversees the agency. 86% of households have been
The order stops the Census counted. More than 65% of
Bureau from winding down households were counted
operations until a court hear- from self-reponses online,
ing is held on Sept. 17. by mail or by telephone, and
The once-a-decade head 21% of households were
count of every U.S. resident counted by census takers
helps determine how $1.5 In this April 23, 2019 file photo, immigration activists rally outside the Supreme Court as the who went to households that
trillion in federal funding is justices hear arguments over the Trump administration's plan to ask about citizenship on the 2020 hadn't yet answered the ques-
distributed and how many census, in Washington. tionnaire.
congressional seats each state Associated Press Some census takers have been
gets in a process known as laid off and operations wound
apportionment. October and asked Congress would have the Census Bu- curate process," said Kristen down as 85% of households
The temporary restraining to extend the deadline for reau handing in the appor- Clarke, president and ex- in an area have been count-
order was requested by a co- turning in the apportionment tionment numbers at the end ecutive director of the Law- ed in what is known as the
alition of cities, counties and numbers from December, of December, under the con- yers' Committee for Civil "closeout" phase, and start-
civil rights groups that had as required by law, into next trol of the Trump administra- Rights Under Law, one of the ing Sept. 11, it will be up to
sued the Census Bureau, spring. When the Republi- tion, no matter who wins the groups that brought the San the supervisors to wind down
demanding it restore its pre- can-controlled Senate failed election in November. Jose lawsuit. operations in an area even if
vious plan for finishing the to take up the request, the More than a half dozen other In her order, Koh wrote that it hasn't achieved the 85%
census at the end of Octo- bureau was forced to create a lawsuits have been filed in previous court cases had con- threshold, Fontenot said.
ber, instead of using a revised revised schedule that had the tandem across the country, cluded that it's in the public Some steps also have been
plan to end operations at the census ending in September, challenging Trump's memo- interest that Congress be fair- eliminated in the processing
end of September. according to the statistical randum as unconstitutional ly apportioned and that the phase that will take place be-
The coalition had argued the agency. and an attempt to limit the federal funds be distributed tween when the count ends
earlier deadline would cause The lawsuit contends the power of Latinos and immi- using an accurate census. and when the apportionment
the Census Bureau to over- Census Bureau changed the grants of color during appor- In a message emailed to re- numbers must be turned in,
look minority communities schedule to accommodate tionment. gional offices and headquar- increasing the risk for errors,
in the census, leading to an a directive from President "The court rightfully recog- ters late Saturday, the Census but the "Census Bureau is
inaccurate count. Donald Trump to exclude nized the Trump administra- Bureau said the statistical confident that it can achieve a
Because of the pandemic, people in the country ille- tion's attempted short-cir- agency and the Commerce complete and accurate census
the Census Bureau pushed gally from the numbers used cuiting of our nation's census Department "are obligated to and report apportionment
back ending the count from in redrawing congressional as an imminent threat to the comply with the Court's Or- counts," Fontenot said in the
the end of July to the end of districts. The revised plan completion of a fair and ac- der and are taking immediate court papers.q

Lawyer of accused Kenosha shooter resigns from defense fund

consin, has resigned from his Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price Pierce has argued that Rit-
position with a defense fund & Hecht, have been accused tenhouse acted in self-de-
that has raked in more than of defaulting on millions of fense when he shot the three
$700,000 to defend his client dollars owed to investors, ac- people on Aug. 25 during a
and conservative causes. cording to court documents. third night of protests over
Attorney John Pierce is de- Pierce acknowledged in New the shooting of Blake two
fending Kyle Rittenhouse York court documents earlier days earlier, which was cap-
against intentional homicide this year that he had failed to tured on cellphone video and
charges for shooting two pay Karish Kapital $4 million posted online.
people to death and wound- for cash advances it had made The Rittenhouse case has be-
ing a third during a night to Pierce's firm, which also come a political flashpoint.
of unrest last month over has a much large payment of During his Tuesday visit to
the police shooting of Jacob $65 million looming for an- Kenosha, President Donald
Blake, a Black man who was other investor, the newspaper Trump gave an account at
left paralyzed from the waist reported. odds with the one given by
down. Pierce and Lin Wood, anoth- prosecutors, falsely implying
In this Aug. 25, 2020, file photo, Kyle Rittenhouse, left, with Pierce said he resigned from er attorney who has taken up that the teenager only shot
backwards cap, walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wis., the #FightBack Founda- high-profile cases champi- the men after he tripped and
with another armed civilian. tion fund, which has raised oned by conservatives, started they attacked him.
Associated Press money to defend Ritten- the fund in early August. The Wood, who now controls the
house, to avoid any "appear- fund is described as a way to foundation, said Pierce would
A lawyer representing a shooting three people during ance of conflict," USA Today "bring lawsuits to check the be reimbursed for his work
17-year-old charged with a protest in Kenosha, Wis- reported. Pierce and his firm, lies of the left." defending Rittenhouse.q