Amicus Curiae Brief — Dep't of Commerce v. New York, 139 S. Ct. 1249 (2019) (No. 18-966)
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No. 18-966
IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, ET AL.,
Petitioners,
We
STATE OF NEW YORK, ET AL.,
Respondents.
On Writ Of Certiorari
To The United States Court Of Appeals
For The Second Circuit
BRIEF OF BUSINESSES AND BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE
IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS
ALEXANDER H. SOUTHWELL STUART F. DELERY
Lee R. CRAIN Counsel of Record
GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP JOSHUA M. WESNESKI
200 Park Avenue GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
a Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 887-3650
sdelery@gibsondunn.com
Counsel for Amici Curiae
I.
Il.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Inaccurate Census Data Will Harm
Businesses That Rely On The Census
For Marketing, Product Development,
Operations, And Other Purposes
A.
Inaccurate Census Data Will
Harm Businesses That Use Census
Data In Deciding Where To Open
New Locations ...............cccccccecceeeeeeeves
Inaccurate Census Data Will
Harm Businesses That Use Census
Data In Product Development,
Marketing, And Placement...............
Inaccurate Census Data Will
Impair The Accurate And
Equitable Allocation Of Federal
NII ciisntarsentainadcinntintbinnniamesteusesecese
Inaccurate Census Data Will Impact
Businesses More Substantially As
They Become Increasingly Data-
Driven
SR eee
FOOTE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE ED
SOOO EEE EEE EEE HERERO HEHEHE
ii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page(s)
Cases
Bode v. Nat'l Democratic Party,
452 F.2d 1302 (D.C. Cir. 1971) 2.0.0.0... cece ccccccecceeeees 6
California v. Ross,
No. 18-cv-1865, 2019 WL 1052434
(N.D. Cal. Mar. 6, 2019)..............ccccccccceeeeeeeeeees 8, 10
Colo. Fire Sprinkler, Inc. v. NLRB,
891 F.3d 1031 (D.C. Cir. 2018) .0000......cccecceeeeeees 8
Fed’n for Am. Immigration Reform v.
Klutznick,
486 F. Supp. 564 (D.D.C. 1980) ................ccccceeeeees 9
Genuine Parts Co. v. EPA,
890 F.3d 304 (D.C. Cir. 2018) ...........ccccccccceeeeeeeeees 8
Islander E. Pipeline Co. v. Conn. Dep't
of Envtl. Prot.,
482 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2006) .0........cccccccceeeeeeseteeeees 8
Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n of U.S., Inc. v.
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.,
a ye ncecestcsinesnarinaserninctaneinstsnsoneesiete 7,8
New York v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce,
351 F. Supp. 3d 502 (S.D.N.Y. 2019)..5, 7, 8, 9, 10,
Utah v. Evans,
I 5
Wesberry v. Sanders,
EE Oe ME ricicersectcdiveahestinitsccenenbecsmenmpeniidacied 6
Wisconsin v. City of New York,
Be EY CP rtensctcntencenisiotuovsensesninnoineinneses 5,17
Statutes
SP EN ON vienccsissenedinnthsnindieinssbasesionnenpieiindindeuaniosn 8
Fi en Ui tt icisnsntesctnninsscindénadsestipebdcnmicansenmiabsiestitenes 4
Bee ee Oe eccnscnteccssonnsnsconvsnniemscnppesnasnidennsisonion 7
eee te A Stee raccovedcssenesessacosssasesonintndissetecatinsnensinnnes 8
Be Re Be ceetcninseteticanervansevinmineneibennbinineuiitinonten 7
Be NE ty III ccpsstininscsecnttiniheisncsteniteapistiindesamicicauiael 16
Ss Se TEED cocervcosonseisaueneensneniscntnvtdneinneccsneunessienene 18
ar es Oh BU ccnccncetictssccesntesensdennncnevnscnscivesnctounnseies 18
Be Se Oe EE seviiesccosccnnsesvectsninicswessbiviniectionsenstess 18
Other Authorities
154 Cong. Rec. H4890 (June 4, 2008)...............00:00000 6
Act Now to Save the 2020 Census,
Bloomberg Opinion (Aug. 11, 2017),
https://bloom. bg/2vUZG4R ...........ccccccccecceeceeeeeeees 14
iv
A.J. Agrawal, Why Data Is Important
for Companies and Why Innovation
Is On the Way, Inc. (Mar. 24, 2016),
DRTINE RIVE EO CUI seccscccsccesecesscesocsccosses
Syed Riaz Ahmed, Applications of Data
Mining in Retail Business,
Proceedings of the Int’l Conference
on Info. Tech.: Coding and
Computing at 2 (2004) .....................ecseseses
Alteryx Powers U.S. Census Data
Analysis (Aug. 27, 2012),
https://bit.ly/2JPFXy8 .............ccccccceeeeeeeeees
Ass’n of Nat'l Advertisers, ANA
Members Oppose Addition of
Citizenship Question for 2020 Census
(June 12, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2U7TTWTH..............ccceeeeeereeees
Census Data Trends, Zillow Blogs (Sept.
13, 2006), https://bit.ly/2VSEkr?2..............
Claritas Demographic Update
Methodology, Claritas (Sept. 2006),
https://bit.ly/2tZK865) .................0cceceeeeceees
Comty. Dev. Fin. Insts., New Markets
Tax Credit Program,
https://bit.ly/1H54VZx; ............cccccccceeseeeees
COSSA Statement on the Impact of a
Citizenship Question in the 2020
Decennial Census (Mar. 27, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2TCtAQ’ ...............cccccccceeeees
v
Jenny Dinnen, 3 Ways You Can Use
Census Data, MacKenzie
Corporation (Oct. 23, 2013),
https://bit.ly/2NWy5Q5 ......c.e.-sescseesseesseeeones
EPA, Learn About the Water Pollution
Control (Section 106) Grant Program
(Jan. 19, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2EUinR}...............e.0eeseeseeeeeeeeees
Esri Demographics, Census and ACS,
III vncivsccisaseenensesscacesounsenece
Paul Farhi, For Business, Census Is a
Marketing Data Motherlode, Wash.
PRS GRE, Big Wee accsccccesevccvssnsecesccsscesescese
Howard Fienberg, Remove the
Citizenship Question from 2020
Census, Says Marketing Research &
Data Analytics Industry, Insights
Ass'n (Aug. 7, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2ZOVZhDi............ee0.cceeseveeseeeeeee
Tom Foster, Warby Parker Grew to $250
Million in Sales Through Disciplined
Growth. Now It’s Time to Get
Aggressive, Inc. (June 2017),
eR |) re
Geolytics, Estimates/ Projects,
https://dit.ly/ZWHECKED.............csseceeseesessesesenes
vi
John H. Heinrichs & Jeen-Su Lim,
Integrating Web-Based Data Mining
Tools with Business Models for
Knowledge Mcnagement, 35 Decision
TS GI, BI, CP ncneccosecccencescccescoesees osescsees 21
Marisa Hotchkiss & Jessica Phelan,
Uses of Census Bureau Data in
Federal Funds Distribution: A New
Design for the 21st Century 3 (Sept.
SUIIIT TE cchstuttadsiabtatienindiaiebiaetiaabednbibiabieiiinaaiashintieossuestemtinnisets 17
HUD Exchange, CDBG: Community
Development Block Grant Programs,
ee EEN cccnesscsesnsccecciescseceevcscosssesonees 20
Douglas A. Kysar, Kids & Cul-de-Sacs:
Census 2000 and the Reproduction of
Consumer Culture, 87 Cornell L.
Re EE ee 7, 10, 15, 23
Letter from Nat'l Ass'n of Realtors to
Sen. Claire McCaskill (Feb. 25,
2018), https://bit.ly/2HQIdHF....................0ecceeee 24
Kenneth Prewitt, The American People
Census 2000: Politics and Science in
Census Taking 6 (Russell Sage
Foundation 2003),
https://wapo.st/2N WwiyD................c.ccccceseeeeeeeeeeeees 6
Melissa Martin, Costs of Starting a
Business: Bricks & Mortar Retail
Startup, StartupNation (June 8,
2006), https://bit.ly/2Cf4VRr 0... ccccceeeeeeeeeees 11
vii
Scott McDonald, A 2020 Census Flop
Would Pose a Danger to U.S.
Businesses, Forbes (Dec. 6, 2017),
https://bit.ly/2Uv6ckZ............ccc00ceceeeeees
Amy Merrick, New Data Will Let
Starbucks Plan Store Openings, Help
Blockbuster Stock Its Videos, Wall
St. J. (Feb. 14, 2001),
https://on.wsj.com/2VOhFck....................
Mikelyn Meyers & Patricia Goerman,
U.S. Census Bureau, Respondent
Confidentiality Concerns in
Multilingual Pretesting Studies and
Possible Effects on Response Rates
and Data Quality for the 2020
Census 24—25 (May 2018).....................
National Research Council,
Modernizing the U.S. Census 297
William P. O’Hare, Geo. Ctr. on Poverty
and Inequality, Citizenship Question
Nonresponse: A Demographic Profile
of People Who Do Not Answer the
American Community Survey
Citizenship Question 6—7 (Sept.
SUED enthentisticncaneveccaveneeninersvreseussnestennenetocee
viii
Andrew D. Reamer, Counting for
Dollars: The Role of the Decennial
Census in the Geographic
Distribution of Federal Funds 10,
Brookings Inst. (Mar. 9, 2010),
https://brook.gs/2Tz7Badt.................ccccccceeeeeees 17, 18
Andrew Reamer, Geo. Wash. Inst. of
Pub. Policy, Counting for Dollars: A
Study of Census-guided Financial
Assistance to Rural America (Oct. 11,
2018), https://bit.ly/2OnkOLO.......00..0..0..000cccccceee 24
Report, Council of Economic Advisers,
The Use of Census Data: An
Analytical Review (Apr. 1, 2000),
Ee 4,15
Chris Rygielski et al., Data Mining
Techniques for Customer
Relationship Management, 24 Tech.
| a 21
Robert Shapiro, The 2020 Census May
Be Wildly Inaccurate—And It
Matters More Than You Think,
Brookings Inst. (Aug. 31, 2017),
https://brook.gs/2gw9BQY ................0ccccccceeeeeeeeeee 16
Greg Sterling, Chipotle Customers Are
Smarter Than McDonald’s And
Other Insights From Smartphone
Data, Mktg. Land (June 24, 2014),
https://mkInd.com/2ESReye...................cccc-0000000 24
ix
SBA, Market Research and Competitive
Analysis, https://bit.ly/2wXJvvw ........
SBA, Small Business Development
Center, https://bit.ly/1D30811.............
Starbucks Corp. Investor Call Tr. (Dec.
5, 2012), https://bit.ly/2UkrxjZ ...........
Richard K. Thomas, Using Demographic
Analysis in Health Services
Planning: A Case Study in
Obstetrical Services, in
Demographics, in Demographics: A
Casebook for Business and
Government 159 (RAND Corp, 1997).
U.S. Census Bureau, Census Business
Builder (Dec. 13, 2018),
https://bit.ly/22wd3s0...............cccc0000
U.S. Dep’t of Educ., Improving Basic
Programs Operated by Local
Educational Agencies (Title I, Part
A), (Oct. 24, 2018),
https://bit.ly/ZIQZIBX ..........cccccceceeeneees
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., State
Wildlife Grant Program — Overview
(Feb. 2, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2CcPMXa.................00000000
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., Wildlife
Restoration Program — Overview
(Feb. 2, 2018), https://bit.ly/2BgEZeA
x
United States Census Bureau, Directors
1790 — 1810 (Aug. 2, 2017),
https://bit.ly/2VKtnrs ...............0.ccceceeeeenees
Upfront Analytics, Why Census Data Is
Useful for Market Research (May 14,
2015), https://bit.ly/1CS6lnd ...............06
Paul R. Voss, Targeting Wealthy Ex-
W:sconsinites in Florida: A Case
Study in Applied Demography, in
Demographics: A Casebook for
Business and Government 109
(Hallie J. Kintner et al. eds., 1997).........
Jonathan Weber, Census Data Assists
Business Where It Counts: Accurate
Demographics, L.A. Times (Jan. 2,
1990), https://lat.ms/2NYuuRF ...............
Zillow: Ahead of Its Time or Falling
Behind, Harv. Bus. Sch.: Open
Knowledge by Digital Initiative
(Nov. 18, 2016),
https://bit.ly/2VSEJUO/.............sseeee00000e
Constitutional Provisions
U.S. Const. Article I, § 2, cl. 3.............ccccceeee
INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE'
Amici submit this brief to provide important con-
text regarding how amici and others in the business
community rely on Census data, how the proposed
Citizenship Question will make Census data less reli-
able, and how inaccurate Census data harms busi-
nesses and consumers.
Amici include the following companies from a va-
riety of sectors:
Univision Communications Inc.
Uber Technologies Inc.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
Warby Parker / JAND, Inc.
Lyft, Inc.
Postmates Inc.
Box, Inc.
Knotel, Inc.
Shutterstock, Inc.
General Assembly Space, Inc.
Casper Sleep Inc.
HealthEZ, Inc. / The Araz Group Inc.
PPS PPP PP PP
il a
PFT Fr PF
! Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37.6, counse] for amici cu-
riae states that no counsel for a party authored this brief in whole
or in part, and no party or counsel for a party, or any other person
other than amici curiae or its counsel, made a monetary contri-
bution intended to fund the preparation or submission of this
brief. All parties have consented in writing to the filing of this
brief.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Cummins Inc.
Masimo Corporation
Workplace Options, LLC
The Cause Collection
Mara Hoffman Inc.
Lush Cosmetics LLC
Opening Ceremony, LLC
Expa, LLC
In addition, amici include several business or-
ganizations or associations. These organizations rep-
resent a diversity of company sizes, types, and geo-
graphical locations, spanning the entire United
States. A brief description of each organization is be-
low.
22.
23.
24.
Tech:NYC—A nonprofit organization repre-
Tech:NYC has approximately 650 member com-
panies, including some of the most prominent
and successful tech companies in the nation.
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce—
A policy advocate supporting businesses in the
Minneapolis area, including some of the na-
tion’s largest and most successful companies,
on a broad range of issues.
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce—An
organization representing more than 1,650
member businesses across Los Angeles County,
improving economic prosperity and quality of
life for the Los Angeles region.
3
25. The Insights Association—An organization rep-
resenting the interests of the marketing re-
search and data analytics community. The In-
sights Association is the leading voice, resource
and network of the marketing research and
data analytics community.
Amici’s interests in this case are strong. First,
amici, like many businesses, rely on Census data to
make a variety of decisions, including where to put
new locations, how to market their products, or which
products will be successful in a given market. Busi-
nesses also have a broader interest in ensuring that
the communities that they serve receive needed fed-
eral support—in terms of education, infrastructure,
and other support—in order to provide an environ-
ment ripe for new development and innovation. All of
these things depend on the availability of accurate
Census data. The Citizenship Question threatens to
compromise the accuracy of that data.
Second, amici have a broader interest in protect-
from the negative effects of a Citizenship Question.
As discussed below, there is ample evidence that the
addition of a Citizenship Question will depress Cen-
sus response rates, particularly among immigrant
and minority communities. An inaccurate Census
count will harm businesses and the communities in
which they serve.
For the above reasons, amici have a substantial
interest in this litigation.
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF
ARGUMENT
Accurate Census data is important to businesses.
Companies use that data to plan new locations and
4
future projects, and they and their communities rely
on important federal funding that is allocated based
on Census data. But the Census Bureau’s proposed
Citizenship Question threatens to reduce response
rates, particularly by naturalized citizens and immi-
grants, and thereby to impair the accuracy of the Cen-
sus. The inaccuracy resulting from the Citizenship
Question will harm businesses, because Census data
can play a role in many decisions by large and small
businesses alike.
The United States Constitution requires an “ac-
tual Enumeration” of the people to allow the “Repre-
sentatives” to “be apportioned among the several
States which may be included within this Union, ac-
cording to their respective Numbers.” U.S. Const. art.
I, § 2, cl. 3. But the importance of accurate Census
data extends well beyond its constitutional purpose of
apportioning congressional representation. Census
data is made public, see 13 U.S.C. § 9(a), and social
scientists have called Census responses “an irreplace-
able source of data for researchers,” Consortium of So-
cial Science Ass’ns, COSSA Statement on the Impact
of a Citizenship Question in the 2020 Decennial Cen-
sus (Mar. 27, 2018), https://bit.ly/2TCtAQ9. “Today,
policy makers at all levels of government, as well as
private businesses, households, researchers, and non-
profit organizations, rely on an accurate census in
myriad ways that range far beyond the single fact of
how many people live in each state.” Report, Council
of Economic Advisers, The Use of Census Data: An An-
alytical Review (Apr. 1, 2000), https://bit.ly/2Tv1PJP.
While businesses have a number of resources at
their disposal to help them understand the character-
i ti 4 fe ’ ] li t ibuti of tl * t %
ers, the Census is a particularly important tool for
5
many purposes. See Paul Farhi, For Business, Census
Is a Marketing Data Motherlode, Wash. Post (Mar. 17,
1990), https://wapo.st/2JOPI67. In the words of a
large group of current and former business leaders—
“(t]he decennial Census provides critical data that in-
forms decision-making in both the private and public
sectors,” and which is regularly used “to determine
where to locate stores and facilities, find qualified
workers, and market products and services,” to name
just a few of its many crucial applications. A.R.1252—
54, Public Comment — Ready Nation (Mar. 22, 2018).”
But as the Census Bureau’s own officials have con-
cluded (backed by research the Bureau itself recently
conducted), asking about a respondent’s citizenship as
part of the United States Census will result in reduced
response rates, particularly by naturalized citizens
and immigrants, and will thus yield inaccurate census
data. See New York v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce, 351 F.
Supp. 3d 502, 578-83 (S.D.N.Y. 2019). That resulting
inaccuracy will be harmful to amici and others in the
business community.
ARGUMENT
An accurate Census is a cornerstone of our democ-
racy. Knowing that the “calculation of populations
could be and often were skewed for political or finan-
cial purposes,” the Framers “chose to make an ‘actual
Enumeration’ part of our constitutional structure” in
order “to preclude the availability of methods that per-
mit political manipulation.” Utah v. Evans, 536 U.S.
452, 500, 507, 510 (2002) (Thomas, J., concurring in
part and dissenting in part); see also Wisconsin v. City
2 Because the parties and the Court have dispensed with the
printing of the joint appendix, citations to “A.R.” refer to the ad-
ministrative record designations in the lower court.
6
of New York, 517 U.S. 1, 6 (1996) (“[E]ach [decennial
Census] was designed with the goal of accomplishing
an ‘actual Enumeration’ of the population.”). The
Census was an integral part of the design of the new
government at the Founding—an attempt to ensure
that the House of Representatives would be based on
proportional representation, itself essential to the
“Great Compromise” that yielded our bicameral legis-
lature. See Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 12—14
(1964); Bode v. Nat'l Democratic Party, 452 F.2d 1302,
1307 (D.C. Cir. 1971).
Indeed, our nation’s earliest leaders recognized
the importance of Census accuracy. For instance,
when Thomas Jefferson supervised the nation’s first
Census as Secretary of State in 1790, he expected a
population count of at least 4 million people. Yet the
Census ultimately revealed a nation of just 3.9 million
people, much to the surprise and concern of Jefferson
and President George Washington. Jefferson thought
that the Census had significantly undercounted the
population, perhaps by several hundred thousand res-
idents. United States Census Bureau, Directors 1790
- 1810 (Aug. 2, 2017), https://bit.ly/2VKtnrs. And
Washington, who had expected a population count
about five percent higher, was similarly chagrined,
blaming the “inaccuracy’ on avoidance by some resi-
dents as well as on negligence by those responsible for
taking the census.” Kenneth Prewitt, The American
People Census 2000: Politics and Science in Census
Taking 6 (Russell Sage Foundation 2003),
https://wapo.st/2NWwijyp. By making these concerns
about the Census public, then-Secretary Jefferson
“helped alert the Nation to the importance of accuracy
in the numbers used to describe the society.” 154
Cong. Rec. H4890 (June 4, 2008) (statement of Rep.
Johnson).
7
In the 1850s, Congress expanded the Census’s tra-
ditional role and included a number of questions on
the Census aimed at learning more about the charac-
teristics of the U.S. population. See Douglas A. Kysar,
Kids & Cul-de-Sacs: Census 2000 and the Reproduc-
tion of Consumer Culture, 87 Cornell L. Rev. 853, 862
(2002). At the turn of the twentieth century, as the
Census grew more complex, Congress created the
Census Bureau, which opened its doors in 1902. See
Permanent Census Act, Pub. L. No. 27 (1902). By that
time, the Census’s mission to “foster, promote, and de-
velop the foreign and domestic commerce” was codi-
fied, 15 U.S.C. § 1512, and the Census Bureau’s ener-
gies “were directed toward the improvement of busi-
ness statistics, ... and toward the collection of data
that might foster improvements in the national econ-
omy without the heavy hand of government ‘plan-
ning,” Kysar, supra, at 862-63 (some internal quota-
tion marks omitted). To that end, Congress author-
ized the Secretary of Commerce to “obtain . . . census
information as necessary.” 13 U.S.C. § 141(a). But as
the district court recognized, the Secretary does not
have unfettered discretion in carrying out that task.
Instead, his decisions regarding the Census are judi-
cially reviewable, and so a decision of the Secretary to
add or remove a Census question must comply with
all relevant laws, including the APA. See Dep’t of
Commerce, 351 F. Supp. 3d at 628-30.
In assessing the impact of various questions, the
Secretary, the Commerce Department, and the Cen-
sus Bureau must take into account the impact of the
question on the conduct of the Census and on various
communities. Cf. Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n of U.S.,
Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 43
(1983). A failure to consider an “important aspect of
the problem,” such as “evidence that runs counter to
8
the agency’s decision,” will render agency action arbi-
trary and capricious. Genuine Parts Co. v. EPA, 890
F.3d 304, 307 (D.C. Cir. 2018) (internal quotation
marks omitted). Courts have not hesitated to vacate
agency action where the agency failed to meet this
mandate. See, e.g., Colo. Fire Sprinkler, Inc. v. NLRB,
891 F.3d 1031, 1041 (D.C. Cir. 2018); Islander E. Pipe-
line Co. v. Conn. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot., 482 F.3d 79, 101
(2d Cir. 2006).
Both district courts that have reviewed the Secre-
tary’s decision have concluded that the Secretary
failed in this obligation. The United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York concluded
that the Secretary of Commerce, in deciding to adopt
the Citizenship Question, violated the Administrative
Procedure Act (“APA”) in three ways. First, the Sec-
retary violated 13 U.S.C. §§ 6(c) and 141(f) by failing
to use information from administrative records to the
maximum extent possible and by failing to include cit-
izenship as a subject to be included on the 2020 Cen-
sus in his report to Congress. Dep’t of Commerce, 351
F. Supp. 3d at 636-47. Second, the Secretary’s deci-
sion was arbitrary and capricious because he “en-
tirely failed to consider an important aspect of the
problem, offered an explanation for its decision that
runs counter to the evidence before the agency, or is
so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a differ-
ence in view or the product of agency expertise.” Jd.
at 647-60 (quoting State Farm , 463 U.S. at 43). And
third, the Secretary's offered rationale was pre-
textual. Jd. at 660-64. On March 6, 2019, the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Cal-
ifornia similarly ruled that the Citizenship Question
violated the APA, as well as the Enumeration Clause.
See California v. Ross, No. 18-cv-1865, 2019 WL
1052434 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 6, 2019).
9
All available evidence confirms that the Citizen-
ship Question will impair the accuracy of the Census.
See Dep't of Commerce, 351 F. Supp. 3d at 594. For
decades, the Census Bureau has recognized the nega-
tive impact a Citizenship Question would have, telling
a court in 1980 that “any effort to ascertain citizenship
will inevitably jeopardize the overall accuracy of the
population count” because “[q]uestions as to citizen-
ship are particularly sensitive in minority communi-
ties and would inevitably trigger hostility, resentment
and refusal to cooperate.” Fed’n for Am. Immigration
Reform vy. Klutznick, 486 F. Supp. 564, 568 (D.D.C.
1980). And even recent research by the Census Bu-
reau confirms that multilingual Census respondents
fear their answers will not be kept confidential, and
may be reluctant to answer certain questions for that
reason. See Mikelyn Meyers & Patricia Goerman,
U.S. Census Bureau, Respondent Confidentiality Con-
cerns in Multilingual Pretesting Studies and Possible
Effects on Response Rates and Data Quality for the
2020 Census 24—25 (May 2018). Indeed, research
shows that respondents are becoming more hesitant
to answer a comparable question about citizenship in-
cluded in the American Community Survey. See Wil-
liam P. O'Hare, Geo. Ctr. on Poverty and Inequality,
Citizenship Question Nonresponse: A Demographic
Profile of People Who Do Not Answer the American
Community Survey Citizenship Question 6-7 (Sept.
2018).
Lower response rates mean less accurate Census
data, which will have negative effects on amici and
other businesses that use Census data in a variety of
ways to plan their operations and products.
10
I. INACCURATE CENSUS DATA WILL HARM BUSI-
NESSES THAT RELY ON THE CENSUS FOR MAR-
KETING, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS,
AND OTHER PURPOSES
Businesses have long used Census data in a vari-
ety of strategic ways to plan their operations, enhance
their understanding of their customer base, and de-
velop products that meet consumer needs. See Kysar,
supra, at 854-56. The Census Bureau itself recog-
nizes the value businesses derive from the types of
data the Census provides; it even provides companies
with a “Census Business Builder,” which is “a suite of
services that provide selected demographic and eco-
nomic data from the Census Bureau tailored to spe-
cific types of users in a simple to access and use for-
mat.” U.S. Census Bureau, Census Business Builder
(Dec. 13, 2018), https://bit.ly/22wd3s0. The Bureau
notes that this data can “help you start or grow a busi-
ness or understand the business landscape for a re-
gion.” Id.; see also SBA, Market Research and Com-
petitive Analysis, https://bit.ly/2wXJvvw.
Assuming the Census Bureau’s own “conservative
estimate” is accurate that the Citizenship Question
will result in a 5.8 percent decline in Census response,
Ross, 2019 WL 1052434, at *28; Dep’t of Commerce,
351 F. Supp. 3d at 566, 580, the 2020 Census would
result in significantly flawed data, undercounting mil-
lions of people. This undercounting would be particu-
larly problematic in the country’s largest markets.
See Ross, 2019 WL 1052434, at *22 (noting that “San
Jose’s percentage of noncitizens is nearly two-and-a-
half times the national percentage”); Dep’t of Com-
merce, 351 F. Supp. 3d at 588, 595 (“New York City is
a prime example. New York City contains approxi-
11
mately forty-three percent of the total state popula-
tion, but approximately seventy-one percent of the
state’s noncitizen population.”); id. (cataloguing larg-
est urban markets affected by even a two percent drop
in response rate). For businesses, undercounting hun-
dreds of thousands or even millions of people matters,
particularly in the context of low-margin industries
where even slight adjustments of data could materi-
ally affect the accuracy of projected revenue and costs.
If the Citizenship Question is adopted—rendering
Census data less accurate—each business that uses
Census data for these purposes will be harmed.
A. Inaccurate Census Data Will Harm Busi-
nesses That Use Census Data In Deciding
Where To Open New Locations
Businesses rely on Census data when they plan
the placement and construction of new locations or
markets. That data lets businesses maximize the ef-
fectiveness of a location and capitalize on a particular
region’s needs or preferences. Building a new location
is a significant undertaking, requiring major capital
investments. See Melissa Martin, Costs of Starting a
Business: Bricks & Mortar Retail Startup, StartupNa-
tion (June 8, 2006), https://bit.ly/2Cf4vRr. Mistakes
about where to place a store, warehouse, or other fa-
cility can harm not only a business’s overall outlook,
but also the communities that need (or don’t need)
such a facility.
Many retail merchants use Census daca to strate-
gically place their stores and other facilities. See Amy
Merrick, New Data Will Let Starbucks Plan Store
Openings, Help Blockbuster Stock Its Videos, Wall St.
J. (Feb. 14, 2001), https://on.wsj.com/2VOhFck; Star-
bucks Corp. Investor Call Tr. (Dec. 5, 2012),
12
https://bit.ly/2UkrxjZ (highlighting value of “the de-
mography, the data, the science” in site selection and
new store openings). Some businesses, like amicus
Warby Parker (an innovative brand providing access
to affordable, high-quality eyewear), rely on Census
data to evaluate what makes a market desirable and
where to place stores within a market. See Tom Fos-
ter, Warby Parker Grew to $250 Million in Sales
Through Disciplined Growth. Now It’s Time to Get Ag-
gressive, Inc. (June 2017), https://bit.ly/2rZ2HEx. And
amicus Uber Technologies uses Census data to opti-
mize locations for where its JUMP bikes are deployed.
Others look at the Census profile for a new area to see
how it compares with an existing market and to deter-
mine whether a new location is likely to generate
more, less, or the same business. See Jonathan We-
ber, Census Data Assists Business Where It Counts:
Accurate Demographics, L.A. Times (Jan. 2, 1990),
https:/lat.ms/2NYuuRF.
A business might use Census data to target a
small location in a state where its customers are most
likely to reside and where a new location could be prof-
itable. See Paul R. Voss, Targeting Wealthy Ex-Wis-
consinites in Florida: A Case Study in Applied Demog-
raphy, in Demographics: A Casebook for Business and
Government 109 (Hallie J. Kintner et al. eds., 1997).
The Census Bureau even provides an interactive pop-
ulation map that businesses can use to examine pop-
ulation data “at the most granular level,” including
“age, race, ethnicity and housing status.” Jenny Din-
nen, 3 Ways You Can Use Census Data, MacKenzie
Corporation (Oct. 23, 2013), https://bit.ly/2NWy5Q5.
Without accurate Census data on which to base loca-
tion decisions, tusinesses would lose a tool that has
become crucial to their survival and growth.
13
The effects of inaccurate Census data on a com-
pany’s decision of where to place a new location would
harm not only that business, but also its surrounding
community. Accurate data helps businesses take
risks on changing and developing neighborhoods. Un-
reliable data might mean businesses will open fewer
locations in new communities, depriving businesses of
new markets and communities of new stores or ser-
vices.
Healthcare providers provide a good example of
this effect because they use Census data to under-
stand community needs. See National Research
Council, Modernizing the U.S. Census 297 (1995). A
hospital can use Census data regarding residents in
the area of a new location to determine how many and
what kind of doctors will likely be needed at that loca-
tion. See id. This same analysis can be performed to
determine the need for certain health services in a
given area—for example, a region densely populated
with young families will be more in need of obstetrical
or family practice services than a region populated
primarily with retirees. See id. at 298; see also Rich-
ard K. Thomas, Using Demographic Analysis in
Health Services Planning: A Case Study in Obstetrical
Services, in Demographics, in Demographics: A Case-
book for Business and Government 159, 167-68
(RAND Corp. 1997) (examining the age of women in
an area to determine the need for a new obstetrical
facility). Inaccurate Census data thus may lead to
some communities having inadequate healthcare in
light of business decisions driven by this data, just as
other communities may face an inefficient influx of
healthcare resources beyond what is actually needed.
14
Census data also allows businesses to learn about
their local communities and work to serve those com-
munities. Amicus Box, Inc., for example, uses Census
data to determine which areas in its community are
in need of volunteer support, and coordinates its em-
ployees’ volunteer efforts in those areas.
With a Census whose accuracy is impaired by the
Citizenship Question, businesses will have less ability
to design and build stores and service locations that
meet the needs of local communities. Businesses,
their customers, and the communities they serve will
all suffer.
B. Inaccurate Census Data Will Harm Busi-
nesses That Use Census Data In Product
Development, Marketing, And Place-
ment
Inaccurate Census data will also affect the devel-
opment and marketing of numerous products around
the country. Businesses use Census data to inform
decisions about product development and placement.
A retail business may, for instance, rely on demo-
graphic data to determine which products are going to
sell best in which regions, and calibrate each store’s
stock accordingly. See Diane W. Schanzenbach & Mi-
chael R. Strain, Act Now to Save the 2020 Census,
Bloomberg Opinion (Aug. 11, 2017),
https://bloom.bg/2vUz64R (“If you walk into a Target
store in suburban Florida, the items on the -helves are
different from what is in a Target store in downtown
Washington D.C. Target makes these decisions in
large part using government data.”). As the Associa-
tion of National Advertisers has explained, “[m]Jarket-
ing decisions/investments are often made based on
population counts,” and inaccurate data would affect
data businesses “rely on to quantify the marketplace,
15
and thereby undersize the business opportunity.”
Ass’n of Nat’l Advertisers, ANA Members Oppose Ad-
dition of Citizenship Question for 2020 Census (June
12, 2018), https://bit.ly/2U7TwTH.
Entire product lines may even be developed based
on data culled from the Census. See, e.g., The Use of
Census Data: An Analytical Review, supra (noting
that accurate Census data helps “[m]janufacturers of
baby products such as baby food, clothes, diapers, and
toys, and manufacturers of maternity clothes and
greeting cards .. . develop . . . their product lines”).
And even independent market research can be aided
by the Census—market researchers can use Census
data to make accurate inferences about survey an-
swers based on their geographic location or their other
survey responses. See Upfront Analytics, Why Census
Data Is Useful for Market Research (May 14, 2015),
https://bit.ly/1CS6lnJ.
Flawed Census data can also impact customer
outreach. For example, because utility companies of-
ten offer lower rates for poorer, elderly, or disabled
customers, utility companies use Census data to de-
termine which areas are most likely to need those spe-
cial rates and reach out to customers in those areas to
evaluate eligibility. See Modernizing the U.S. Census,
supra, at 297. Cable television companies may use
Census data to target advertising for pay-per-view
events to those areas whose residents are most likely
to purchase the event. See id. at 296. And when a car
manufacturer learned through customer research
that its vehicles were popular with people in the nurs-
ing profession, it used data from the Census to tailor
its regional advertising to that demographic. See
Kysar, supra, at 885. Inaccurate Census data would
16
weaken the ability of businesses to adapt their mar-
keting and outreach strategies to a changing popula-
tion, resulting in wasted dollars for businesses and
unwanted advertising for customers.
C. Inaccurate Census Data Will Impair The
Accurate And Equitable Allocation Of
Federal Support
The federal government rel'es on Census data to
allocate and distribute federal support and funding,
and inaccurate Census data threatens to harm busi-
nesses and their communities who rely on that sup-
port. For example, under the New Market Tax Credit
(“NMTC”)—a federal program designed to stimulate
investment in distressed communities—a business in-
vestment may qualify for special tax treatment if it
occurs in an area with certain concentrations of low-
or moderate-income households. See Comty. Dev. Fin.
Insts., New Markets Tax Credit Program,
https://bit.ly/1H54VZx; Robert Shapiro, The 2020 Cen-
sus May Be Wildly Inaccurate—And It Matters More
Than You Think, Brookings Inst. (Aug. 31, 2017),
https://brook.gs/2gw9BQY.* Or a nonprofit organiza-
tion, such as a rural health clinic, may use Census
data for a special federal designation based on loca-
tion and population served. See Modernizing the U.S.
Census, supra, at 298. Businesses rely on Census data
to know whether they will be entitled to federal sup-
port, and inaccurate Census data risks depriving busi-
nesses of that needed support.
3 An NMTC-eligible investment must be located in a desig-
nated “low-income community,” defined by U.S. Census data as
a Census tract with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent or with
a median family income that does not exceed 80 percent of the
statewide median family income. 26 U.S.C. § 45D(e).
17
More broadly, the federal government relies on
Census data to allocate and distribute federal fund-
ing—to the tune of about $700 billion—and inaccurate
Census data can therefore affect businesses that rely
directly or indirectly on those funds. See A.R.8375,
Public Comment — Coalition of Philanthropic Organi-
zations (Mar. 21, 2018) (“[Rlecent decennial censuses
have resulted in net undercounts of many communi-
ties, with consequences for . . . disbursing roughly
$700 billion in federal funds.”). In 2015 alone, the fed-
eral government used Census data to distribute over
$675 billion in federal funding to a variety of pro-
grams. See Marisa Hotchkiss & Jessica Phelan, Uses
of Census Bureau Data in Federal Funds Distribution:
A New Design for the 21st Century 3 (Sept. 2017) (on
file with the U.S. Census Bureau); see also Wisconsin,
517 U.S. at 5-6 (“Today, census data also have im-
portant consequences not delineated in the Constitu-
tion: The Federal Government considers census data
in dispensing funds through federal programs to the
States ....”). Those billions of dollars were funneled
through 132 different programs, ranging from subsi-
dies for school lunches to historic preservation. See
Hotchkiss & Phelan, supra, at 16—17.
The bulk of Census-guided federal assistance goes
to state governments through a handful of grant pro-
grams that aid low-income households and support
highway infrastructure. See Andrew D. Reamer,
Counting for Dollars: The Role of the Decennial Cen-
sus in the Geographic Distribution of Federal Funds
10, Brookings Inst. (Mar. 9, 2010),
https://brook.gs/2Tz7Bdt.* In 2008, using Census
* In 2008, $261.1 billion was distributed to states through
Medicaid, the largest Census-guided assistance program. See
Reamer, supra, at 10.
18
data, the federal government distributed over $36 bil-
lion in federal funds via the Federal-Aid Highway Pro-
gram, and distributed an additional $10 billion to
fund other transportation needs. See id. at 11—12.
Businesses ave an interest in ensuring that the basic
infrastructure of their communities—including the
availability of accessible and well-kept highways—is
supported by federal funding. That is especially true
for businesses who depend on federally supported
highways for the transportation of goods. And an in-
accurate Census threatens the proper allocation of
that funding.
Businesses also have an interest in the federal
funding allocated to other programs. For example,
through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act (“WIOA”), the federal government subsidizes the
education and workforce training of youths and adults
from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas. See 29
U.S.C. §§ 3162, 3172. The allocation of those subsidies
is determined using the “most recent satisfactory data
from the Bureau of the Census.” 29 U.S.C. § 3242(a).
And some organizations, like amicus General Assem-
bly, enroll students that rely on that federal funding,
or offer programs that are funded by WIOA. The De-
partment of Labor allocated over $7 billion in 2008 on
the basis of Census data, see Reamer, supra, at 13,
some of which went to educational institutions like
amicus General Assembly to provide free training pro-
grams to underserved and overlooked talent.
Companies may have more specific interests de-
pending on their size or line of business. For example,
many new businesses have an interest in the federal
funding that goes to Small Business Development
Centers, which receive federal funding to provide
19
small companies and entrepreneurs with free consult-
ing and training services. See SBA, Small Business
Development Center, https://bit.ly/1D3081I. A local
outdoors-equipment retail store, whose business de-
pends in part on the availability and quality of nearby
outdoor activities, will likely have an interest in en-
suring that the surrounding community is receiving
adequate support from federal programs such as the
Wildlife Restoration Program, see U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Serv., Wildlife Restoration Program — Overview (Feb.
2, 2018), https://bit.ly/2BgEZeA (providing funding to
restore, conserve, manage, and enhance wild birds
and mammals and their habitat); see also U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Serv., State Wildlife Grant Program -— Over-
view (Feb. 2, 2018), https://bit.ly/2CcPMXa (providing
funding to develop and implement programs that ben-
efit wildlife and their habitats), and the Water Pollu-
tion Control Grant Program, see EPA, Learn About the
Water Pollution Control (Section 106) Grant Program
(Jan. 19, 2018), https://bit.ly/2EUinRj (providing
funding to states and agencies to build and sustain ef-
fective water quality programs), both of which rely on
the Census to determine allocation of funding.
Established businesses in communities may also
have a more general interest in ensuring that the com-
munities they serve—and that make up their cus-
tomer and employee bases—are receiving the needed
federal assistance to which they are entitled. The U.S.
Department of Education, for instance, relies on Cen-
sus data to allocate funds to educational agencies and
schools with high numbers or percentages of children
from low-income families. See U.S. Dep’t of Educ., Jm-
proving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educa-
tional Agencies (Title I, Part A), (Oct. 24, 2018),
https://bit.ly/21QzI5X. The Department of Education
allocated over $10 billion in special education grants
20
to states in 2008, based in large part on Census data.
See Reamer, supra, at 11. It distributed over $7 bil-
lion in Title I grants to local educational agencies dur-
ing the same time period. Jd. Businesses in such a
community, like all members of a community, benefit
from strong educational programs, particularly when
that business depends on an educated local workforce
to staff its facilities. Federal funds are also allocated
through Community Development Block Grant Pro-
grams—again on the basis of Census data—to help de-
velop urban communities and improve living and eco-
nomic conditions. See HUD Exchange, CDBG: Com-
munity Development Block Grant Programs,
https://bit.ly/2VSnCb1. Again, businesses benefit
when their communities receive the infrastructure
support they need to thrive. But an inaccurate Cen-
sus risks misallocating funds to each of these pro-
grams, harming businesses and their communities.
* * *
These varied and documented uses of Census data
are possible only because businesses can depend on
the Census to provide accurate demographic infor-
mation about customers and to determine how best to
engage in their local communities. As the district
court found, however, the Citizenship Question
threatens to undermine that reliability of Census
data, see Dep’t of Commerce, 351 F. Supp. 3d at 594,
and therefore substantially reduce its value to busi-
nesses. If businesses cannot rely on the Census to pro-
vide usable, accurate data, they will be hamstrung in
their ability to track and adapt to customers’ changing
needs and preferences. Competitive businesses must
always be evolving to respond to changes in the mar-
ket, and the Citizenship Question will impede their
ability to do so.
21
II. INACCURATE CENSUS DATA WILL IMPACT BUSI-
NESSES MORE SUBSTANTIALLY AS THEY BECOME
INCREASINGI Y DATA-DRIVEN
Inaccurate Census data would be especially dis-
ruptive to businesses today. Companies increasingly
rely on data-driven analytics to provide products and
services that meet customers’ specific needs and
wants. While businesses in the past adopted a more
product-oriented approach—focusing on designing
products they believed customers would want—busi-
nesses now operate on a more customer-oriented ba-
sis, seeking to understand customers’ needs before
they invest resources into design and implementation.
See Chris Rygielski et al., Data Mining Techniques for
Customer Relationship Management, 24 Tech. in Soc’y
483, 484 (2002). The value of accurate and complete
data is heightened by the need for businesses to re-
spond quickly to changing market conditions and pref-
erences. See Syed Riaz Ahmed, Applications of Data
Mining in Retail Business, Proceedings of the Int’l
Conference on Info. Tech.: Coding and Computing, at
2 (2004). Companies seeking to gain a competitive
edge over their competitors therefore rely on their
ability “to better manage the knowledge regarding the
critical elements of their environment.” John H. Hein-
richs & Jeen-Su Lim, /ntegrating Web-Based Data
Mining Tools with Business Models for Knowledge
Management, 35 Decision Support Sys. 103, 105
(2003).
By way of example, amicus Uber Technologies has
a policy team that uses Census data to conduct re-
search with respect to high-level policy issues impli-
cated by Uber’s business, including issues related to
the impact of Uber’s services on different neighbor-
hoods and communities. This research is important
22
to Uber’s outreach with respect to its drivers, riders,
and third-party stakeholders. Amicus Box, Inc. lever-
ages Census data through tailored reports that Box
receives from third-party vendors compiling salary
bands for different geographic areas. Census data has
been, and will continue to be, integral to this modern
focus, rendering an accurate Census imperative to
business growth and innovation. See A.J. Agrawal,
Why Data Is Important for Companies and Why Inno-
vation Is On the Way, Inc. (Mar. 24, 2016),
https://bit.ly/2qY77iM (asserting that in an era in
which “[pjeople are generating more |data] than ever
before,” this data is becoming “essential for companies
and it’s going to spell an era of innovation”).
The emphasis on data analytics has led to the rise
of entire businesses built around processing and ana-
lyzing demographic data, and advising consumers
based on that data—including that provided in the
Census. Census data can be complicated (and costly)
to organize and interpret, and some businesses spe-
cialize in translating that raw data into usable infor-
mation. See Weber, supra; see also Alteryx Powers
U.S. Census Data Analysis (Aug. 27, 2012),
https://bit.ly/2JPFxy8. Such companies may offer
business analytics solutions based, in part, on Census
data to assist with these location decisions. See Esri
Demographics, Census and ACS,
https://bit.ly/2EMfhic. Other entities use Census data
to forecast demographic trends and provide those pro-
jections to businesses who are looking for growth op-
portunities. See Claritas Demographic Update Meth-
odology, Claritas (Sept. 2006), https://bit.ly/2tZK865;
Geolytics, Estimates / Projects, https://bit.ly/2Wh6Cf0
(noting that its estimates and projects are “ideally
suited for business users and researchers who need to
know where to market, where to expand, and how to
23
allocate resources”). These companies specialize in
the provision of Census-based segmentation ser-
vices—an analysis that divides up the U.S. population
into various segments sharing key traits and behav-
ioral patterns that can be used to predict consumer
behavior. See Kysar, supra, at 880-81. And these
businesses rely, of course, on accurate Census data to
provide those services.
Census data is also critical to understanding and
making use of marketing research gathered through
other means. Many businesses have commercial da-
tabases that store information about their customers
and target audience. See Scott McDonald, A 2020
Census Flop Would Pose a Danger to U.S. Businesses,
Forbes (Dec. 6, 2017), https://bit.ly/2Uv6ckz. But
marketing research gathered from a sample popula-
tion can be skewed or inaccurate, and so businesses
rely on Census data to provide a benchmark to “eval-
uate the quality of the dataset and provide a basis for
statistical adjustments.” Jd. The accuracy of Census
data thus even affects the quality of independent mar-
ket research: “Marketing is based on consumers in
markets, not citizens in markets.” Ass’n of Nat'l Ad-
vertisers, supra (“As a business user of the data, we
need the census to accurately reflect all segments of
our society. Non-citizen residents contribute a great
deal to many economies. Marketers need to under-
stand who truly lives and works in the U.S.”).
Census data is also critical to business because
that data is used validate other national surveys key
to most American businesses, including the American
Community Survey (ACS)—formerly the decennial
census long form—and the Economic Census. The
ACS is particularly important to data-driven busi-
nesses. Realtors, for instance, use the ACS and the
24
census to “develop insights on market trends and pol-
icy issues.” Letter from Nat’l Ass’n of Realtors to Sen.
Claire McCaskill (Feb. 25, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2ZHQIdHF. But the ACS itself depends
on accurate Census data. See Andrew Reamer, Geo.
Wash. Inst. of Pub. Policy, Counting for Dollars: A
Study of Census-guided Financial Assistance to Rural
America (Oct. 11, 2018), https://bit.ly/2OnkOLO. If
the Citizenship Question is adopted and depresses re-
sponse rates, “|e]very subsequent survey and study
that intends to be statistically representative of the
U.S. population will be built on decennial data, includ-
ing the American Community Survey (ACS), the Eco-
nomic Census and every other federal government
survey, and any inaccuracies will be felt for at least a
decade.” Howard Fienberg, Remove the Citizenship
Question from 2020 Census, Says Marketing Research
& Data Analytics Industry, Insights Ass’n (Aug. 7,
2018), https://bit.ly/2OVzhDi.
Location intelligence providers repurpose Census
data to provide insights to customers and to help them
draw better, data-driven inferences about how to run
their organizations. See Greg Sterling, Chipotle Cus-
tomers Are Smarter Than McDonald’s And Other In-
sights From Smartphone Data, Mktg. Land (June 24,
2014), https://mklnd.com/2ESReye. Real estate ag-
gregators can use Census data to compile their list-
ings and real estate estimates. Zillow: Ahead of Its
Time or Falling Behind, Harv. Bus. Sch.: Open
Knowledge by Digital Initiative (Nov. 18, 2016),
https://bit.ly/2VSEjU0/; see also Census Data Trends,
Zillow Blogs (Sept. 13, 2006), https://bit.ly/2VSEkr2.
Businesses like these depend on advanced data pro-
cessing, and among the information these businesses
process is Census data, the accuracy of which is and
will continue to be essential to their success.
25
* * *
Although it is impossible to determine how inno-
vators and entrepreneurs will use Census data in the
future, one thing is clear: businesses will keep using
it in important ways so long as it is accurate. They
will seek to leverage key data and determine new,
profitable uses to draw from it. Ensuring the accuracy
of this data is essential, and any attempt by the fed-
eral government to diminish the Census impairs the
ability of businesses across the country to be effective.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, amici curiue request
that this Court affirm the judgment below.
Respectfully submitted.
ALEXANDER H. SOUTHWELL STUART F. DELERY
LEE R. CRAIN Counsel of Record
GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP JOSHUA M. WESNESKI
200 Park Avenue GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
New York, NY 10166 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 887-3650
sdelery@gibsondunn.com
Counsel for Amici Curiae
April 1, 2019
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