Special to the
Opelika Observer
Attorney Gen. Steve Marshall welcomed a federal district court ruling last week allowing the State of Alabama to proceed with its lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce and related officials.
“I am grateful that the U.S. District Court has agreed with us and denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss our census lawsuit,” Marshall said. “Alabama will continue to make its case that the Constitution and federal law require that each state’s share of federal political power in Congress be apportioned based on the number of people who are lawfully present in the United States and that illegal aliens must not be included in that calculation.”
In a June 5 ruling, Judge R. David Proctor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that the plaintiffs, the State of Alabama and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, have adequately alleged that they will be harmed by the inclusion of illegal aliens in the census.
On May 21, Marshall and Brooks filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau arguing against the inclusion of illegal aliens in the final census count for purposes of determining Congressional apportionment because this will likely cost Alabama a Congressional seat and an Electoral College vote.
The federal district court’s decision this week means that Alabama’s lawsuit will proceed.