Census lawsuit tossed based on definition of ‘whereby’
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
A federal judge has tossed out a public records lawsuit on the 2020 census based on the interpretation of one obscure word: “whereby.” The lawsuit dismissed Tuesday was over an even more obscure concept: how a statistical method was used to fill in details when information was lacking about people residing in dorms, nursing homes, prisons and other group living spaces. A Republican-leaning redistricting advocacy group had sued the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department, which oversees the statistical agency. They wanted to obtain records showing by state the number of times the statistical method was used for group quarters.