Court Extends Order Blocking Census Revision

A federal appeals court Monday extended until Aug. 30 a temporary stay delaying a lower court ruling that would force the U.S. government to release adjusted census figures boosting the count of California’s population by more than 1 million people.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said it would hear arguments in the case before making its decision.

The outcome of the lawsuit, filed by the state Senate, would affect the way the Legislature draws new boundaries for congressional, legislative and State Board of Equalization districts.

The official 1990 census counted about 29.7 million people in California. But a post-census survey by the census bureau estimated that the state’s population might be 30.8 million.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher rejected using the recount for federal purposes, saying it was no more guaranteed to be accurate than the original census. Legislative leaders want to use the higher numbers anyway.

Because most of the 1.1 million people estimated to have been missed by the first census live in urban areas, and many are poor and minorities, the higher figures are expected to benefit the Democrats. The numbers would make it easier for Democrats to draw districts favoring their incumbents because the higher urban population would diminish the importance of the recent population growth in the Republican-dominated suburbs.

The Aug. 30 hearing date all but guarantees that the Legislature, if it gets the higher numbers, would have to draw the new districts in a special session after its scheduled Sept. 13 adjournment. Legislative aides have said it might take as long as a month to put the new numbers into the computers and draw districts based on the higher population count.

The adjusted numbers also would change the shape of the state’s new congressional districts, but because the case involves only California, it would not alter the formula that allocates seven new seats for the state, for a total of 52.

In a related action Monday, a coalition of Asian and Latino groups announced the filing of a lawsuit that would force the Legislature to adjust the census data before drawing the new districts. The suit alleges that the failure to adjust the count would deny minorities an equal voice in the political process.