The Supreme Court has agreed to decide if the 1990 Census wrongfully included overseas military personnel, an issue that will help determine if Massachusetts loses a seat and Washington state gains one in the House of Representatives.
The court agreed Friday to an appeal by the Commerce Department to hear the case on an expedited basis. It set oral arguments for April 21, with a decision expected by July.It marks the second House reapportionment challenge currently before the court. The justices also are considering a challenge by Montana to the complex mathematical method adopted in 1941 for determining the proportion of House seats alloted to each state.
A federal court in Massachusetts held that the Constitution and the Census Act allow military personnel stationed overseas and their dependents to be included in state population totals for apportionment purposes. But it ruled that the government's manner of doing so after the 1990 Census was unjustified.
The administration contends the lower court did not even have the right to consider the issue. But if so, it wants the high court to rule that including the federal personnel for House apportionment purposes was legal.
The Census Bureau in 1990 counted overseas military personnel and their dependents and added them to a state's population based on their "home of record."
Massachusetts says the process used to determine a soldier's home of record is flawed, not reflecting where many actually reside when not overseas.
The lower court agreed, ordering the Census Bureau to disregard the 922,810 people it included from overseas.