Department of Commerce v. New York

Decided June 27, 2019. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 18-966 · 588 U.S. 752 (2019) · Cited 658 times

Holding

The Secretary did not violate the Enumeration Clause or the Census Act in deciding to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 census questionnaire, but the District Court was warranted in remanding the case back to the agency where the evidence tells a story that does not match the Secretary’s explanation for his decision.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · 401 U.S. 402 (1971)
• Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co. · 463 U.S. 29 (1983)
• Heckler v. Chaney · 470 U.S. 821 (1985)
• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers · 482 U.S. 270 (1987)
• Wisconsin v. City of New York · 517 U.S. 1 (1996)
• Baldrige v. Shapiro · 455 U.S. 345 (1982)
• Utah v. Evans · 536 U.S. 452 (2002)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp. · 318 U.S. 80 (1943)
• Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 435 U.S. 519 (1978)
• Department of Commerce v. United States House of Representatives · 525 U.S. 316 (1999)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 462 U.S. 87 (1983)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• Lincoln v. Vigil · 508 U.S. 182 (1993)
• Southern Railway Co. v. Seaboard Allied Milling Corp. · 442 U.S. 444 (1979)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Bennett v. Spear · 520 U.S. 154 (1997)
• Clapper v. Amnesty International USA · 568 U.S. 398 (2013)
• Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States · 371 U.S. 156 (1962)
• Camp v. Pitts · 411 U.S. 138 (1973)
• Florida Power & Light Co. v. Lorion · 470 U.S. 729 (1985)
• United States v. Chemical Foundation, Inc. · 272 U.S. 1 (1926)
• United States v. Morgan · 313 U.S. 409 (1941)
• National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife · 551 U.S. 644 (2007)
• Weinberger v. Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Inc. · 412 U.S. 609 (1973)
• Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc. · 521 U.S. 457 (1997)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA · 606 U.S. 100 (2025)
• Trump v. Vance · 591 U.S. 786 (2020)
• FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC · 604 U.S. 542 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

Explore from here

John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2019). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).