Note: The Brennan Center is not a participant in this case.
Summary
The Arab American Institute sued the Office of Management and Budget for its failure to release documents relating to its decision not to include a combined race and ethnicity and a separate Middle Eastern or North African category on the 2020 Census.
Case Background
The Arab American Institute (AAI) sued the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its failure to disclose records regarding its decision to not use a combined race and ethnicity question or include a Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category on the 2020 Census. On January 26, 2018, the Census Bureau announced it would not include a combined question format for collecting information on Hispanic origin and race or a MENA category on the 2020 census form. OMB, which sets the standards for race and ethnicity data for federal agencies, has not yet released a report explaining its decision not to include the categories on the census in 2020.
The plaintiffs asked the court for a declaratory judgment that OMB violated FOIA and an order requiring the agency to immediately process and release the records AAI requested.
OMB has released some documents to the Arab American Institute, and, on January 31, 2020, asked the court to dismiss the case. The Institute opposed the dismissal and asked the court to order OMB to release additional documents.
On August 13, 2020, the court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and denied the plaintiff’s cross motion for summary judgment.
Key documents
- Complaint (April 13, 2018)
- Answer to Complaint (May 17, 2018)
- Order (May 18, 2018)
- Status Report (June 15, 2018)
- Joint Status Report (July 13, 2018)
- Joint Status Report (October 1, 2018)
- Joint Status Report (December 3, 2018)
- Joint Status Report (February 14, 2019)
- Joint Status Report (March 7, 2019)
- Joint Status Report (April 8, 2019)
- Joint Status Report (June 10, 2019)
- Joint Status Report (July 10, 2019)
- Joint Status Report (August 20, 2019)
- Proposed Scheduling Order (November 20, 2019)
- Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (January 31, 2020)
- Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment and in Support of Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (March 12, 2020)
- Defendants’ Reply in Support for Motion for Summary Judgment (May 13, 2020)
- Plaintiffs’ Reply in Support of Its Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (May 28, 2020)
- Memorandum Opinion (August 13, 2020)