Kravitz v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce

355 F. Supp. 3d 256
District Court, D. Maryland·Decided December 28, 2018·No. Case No.: GJH-18-1041; Case No.: GJH-18-1570·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

1. Concrete injury-in-fact

To establish standing's injury-in-fact element, a plaintiff must show it "has sustained or is immediately in danger of sustaining a direct injury" as a result of the challenged action. Spokeo , 136 S.Ct. at 1552 (quotation omitted). A plaintiff's injury or threat of injury must be "concrete and particularized," not conjectural or hypothetical. Lujan , 504 U.S. at 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130. If standing is based upon an alleged future injury, the plaintiff must demonstrate a substantial risk the harm will occur. See Clapper v. Amnesty Int'l USA , 568 U.S. 398, 409, 133 S.Ct. 1138, 185 L.Ed.2d 264 (2013).

a. Injury to the Individual Plaintiffs

The Kravitiz Individual Plaintiffs point to evidence that a citizenship question will cause a disproportional undercount, harming their communities because they live in areas with a higher percentage of those likely to be undercounted. By a conservative estimate the citizenship question will reduce response rates to the 2020 Census among households with a noncitizen by 5.1 percentage points, relative to households with only U.S. citizens. ECF No. 70 (18-1041) at 774. Further, there is evidence that a citizenship question will cause a decline in responses by Hispanic households. Id. at 629, 630, 724-25, 745; see also ECF No. 70-6 (18-1041) at 36, 75-76; ECF No. 70-1 (18-1041) at 8, 43. Additionally, Plaintiffs' expert Dr. Nancy Mathiowetz explains that a citizenship question is likely to lead to so-called roster omissions where, fearing the consequences of providing sensitive information about noncitizen household members, households respond to the Census questionnaire but conceal individual members. ECF No. 70-6 (18-1041) at 34, 73. Specifically, Dr. Mathiowetz writes: "[i]n light of the empirical evidence concerning rostering errors, it is reasonable to estimate that rostering errors motivated by the addition of the citizenship question will be on the order of five percent and these rostering errors will impact both households with noncitizens as well as households with Hispanic members." Id. at 73.3

*264Defendants' argument that corrective measures will undisputedly remedy an undercount, ECF No. 67-1 (18-1041) at 16-18, is unconvincing at this stage. These corrective measures include non-response follow up (NRFU) with households that do not initially respond to the Census, attempts to contact a nearby proxy (i.e. neighbor or building manager), and use of administrative records to supplement data where households are nonresponsive. ECF No. 67-1 (18-1041) at 15-18. However, at the very least, it is disputed whether NRFU efforts will be successful because "[t]hose refusing to self-respond due to the citizenship question are particularly likely to refuse to respond in NRFU as well," ECF No. 70 (18-1041) at 652, and NRFU cannot remedy expected roster omissions, id. at 862. Individuals choosing not to respond to the Census out of fear are not likely to be reassured by someone intrusively showing up at their homes. See id. at 652.

Defendants next argument, that the undisputed facts show an alleged undercount would not dilute Plaintiffs' votes or affect their communities' federal funding, is also flawed. To the contrary, evidence exists that the Kravitz Individual Plaintiffs will be harmed by a differential undercount through vote dilution and loss of federal funding. E.g., ECF No. 70-2 (18-1041) at 12; ECF No. 70-3 (18-1041) at 11. Specifically, Plaintiffs point to an expert opinion that a differential undercount of noncitizens and Hispanics will lead to vote dilution from malapportionment of congressional seats in California, Texas, and Arizona. ECF No. 70-2 (18-1041) at 11. Plaintiffs' expert found that a disproportionate undercount will result in vote dilution from intra-state redistricting because states use Census data to draw districts of equal population. Id. at 13. Further, Plaintiffs' experts opine that a disproportionate undercount will result in a loss of Medicaid, transportation, and Title I funding to Plaintiffs' communities. See ECF No. 70-5 (18-1041) at 6, 12, 14-15; ECF No. 70-7 (18-1041) at 5-6, 11-14.

Because evidence exists to support the Kravitz Plaintiffs' claim that a citizenship question will lead to a disproportionate undercount, vote dilution, and loss of funding, Defendants in that case are not entitled to summary judgment on standing's injury-in-fact element. Further, the LUPE Individual Plaintiffs point to essentially the same evidence discussed above to establish a substantial risk of a disproportionate undercount, differential vote dilution, and funding losses. See ECF No. 85 at 11-17. Thus, the LUPE Individual Plaintiffs have also demonstrated that genuine disputes of material fact remain as to standing's injury requirement.

b. Injury to the Organizational Plaintiffs

Although "the presence of one party with standing is sufficient to satisfy Article III's case-or-controversy requirement," Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, Inc., 547 U.S. 47, 52 n. 2, 126 S.Ct. 1297, 164 L.Ed.2d 156 (2006), the LUPE Organizational Plaintiffs have also introduced evidence that they or their members will sustain a direct injury because of a citizenship question, see e.g. , ECF No. 82-2 (18-1570) ¶¶ 61-62 & n. 52; ECF No. 85-9 (18-1570) ¶¶ 4, 10 & 12-15. An organizational plaintiff may establish standing's injury-in-fact element under the representational standing doctrine by showing that its members have sustained an injury.

*265Am. Humanist Ass'n v. Maryland-Nat'l Capital Park & Planning Comm'n , 874 F.3d 195, 203-04 (4th Cir. 2017). Alternatively, organizations may establish associational standing injuries by showing "(1) frustration of its organizational mission; and (2) diversion of its resources" to mitigate the effects of the challenged action. Smith v. Pac. Properties & Dev. Corp.

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Kravitz v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 355 F. Supp. 3d 256 (D. Md. 2018).

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