Thread from Marty Lederman:
1/ Amy: Please help me out, as I don't understand the Gorsuch/Thomas objection. "There’s nothing unusual," they write, "about a new cabinet secretary coming to office inclined to favor a different policy direction, …@FirstMondaysFM
— Marty Lederman (@marty_lederman) October 23, 2018
Gorsuch conveniently leaves out Furman’s most critical finding: that Ross lied about his reasons for adding the citizenship question. Initially, Ross insisted—under oath before Congress—that he began considering the question in response to the DOJ’s request. A document obtained in discovery, however, reveals that Ross himself pushed the DOJ to submit this request, contradicting his earlier sworn testimony. Furman, quite sensibly, found that Ross’ dishonesty could indicate that his “proffered rationale for the decision … may have been pretextual.” He rested his decision to permit the depositions on that conclusion. Yet Gorsuch elided Ross’ falsehood, a sleight of hand that conveniently erases the heart of Furman’s ruling