SCOTUS Opines on Citizenship Question

SCOTUS has opined that 1) federal judges have no constitutional authority in gerrymandering cases, and that 2) on the issue of including the citizenship question in the 2020 census, further explanation is needed from the Commerce Dept. to justify such an insertion before the court can render a decision.

On the latter, I am flummoxed. The only thing that comes to mind is that the Administration sloppily prepared its argument. The point is that our founders never envisioned that elected representatives would be apportioned according to the number of "inhabitants", but upon the number of voting citizens, the latter upon whom Hamilton asserted the republic must rely. 

Simply put, when it comes to electing our representatives, we don't rely upon the loyalty and faithfulness to the Constitution of non-citizens. That would be reckless and irrational. Permitting non-citizens to be calculated in this representation formula would be subversive of our founding principles. That said, common sense dictates that ALL inhabitants should be counted so we may properly know who lives here and in what status, legal or otherwise, they may be. Let's hope that this time the Commerce Dept consults some scholarly constitutional experts when preparing its case. Sadly, of course, that's no guarantee that a majority of SCOTUS justices will be swayed by any well-developed, strict interpretations of the Constitution on ANY matter coming before it. We have long ago come to terms with that painful reality.