Four States Sue to Force Census to Ask About Immigration Status

On January 17, four states sued the federal government to force the Census Bureau to ask about the immigration status of each person. The State of Louisiana v U.S. Department of Commerce, w.d. Louisiana, 6:25cv-76. The other states in the lawsuit are West Virginia, Ohio, and Kansas. Here is the Complaint.

The suit claims that if the population figures for each state reflected the number of illegal aliens, and those persons were not included in the formula for determining the number of U.S. House seats, that states like Louisiana and West Virginia would gain another member of the U.S. House, and of course certain other states, like California and Texas, would lose some seats.

The reason the Census Bureau doesn’t ask about immigration status is that if the question were asked, many people would refuse to cooperate with the Census.

The Fourteenth Amendment, Section Two, covers apportionment of U.S. House seats. It says, “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.”

The case has not yet been assigned to any particular judge.

Leonard Peltier Receives a Commutation of His Life Sentence

On January 20, outgoing President Joseph Biden commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, who is age 80. See this story.

Peltier was the presidential nominee of the Peace & Freedom Party in 2004. The party nominated him to make a statement that he had been unjustly convicted. Pelter was also the original vice-presidential nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in 2020. That party similarly wanted to highlight the injustice of his treatment. He resigned from the 2020 ticket, allegedly for health reasons, but actually because his attorneys believed his candidacy would damage his chances of leniency from President Trump.

Minnesota Libertarian Party Will Sue if Special Election Petitioning Period is Not Expanded Beyond One Day

On January 18, the Minnesota Libertarian Party sent a letter to Governor Tim Walz, saying if he does not set a longer period for minor party petitioning in upcoming special legislative elections, the party will sue him. The last petitioning periods he has set have been only one day to collect 500 signatures.

Idaho Libertarian Congressional Candidate Todd Corsetti Polled Highest Percentage for an Idaho “Other” Candidate for U.S. House Since 1926

On November 5, 2024, Idaho Libertarian nominee Todd Corsetti, running for U.S. House, 2nd district, polled 5.23%. This was the highest percentage that a minor party or independent candidate for U.S. House in Idaho had polled since 1926, when the Progressive Party polled 22.74% for one of the Idaho house seats.

Corsetti was in a four-person race, with Democratic, Republican, and Constitution Party opponents. His vote total was 21,310. The second district includes the eastern half of Idaho. The Republican incumbent, Mike Simpson, was easily re-elected.

Excluding races without one of the two major parties, Corsetti polled the highest percentage of the vote of any Libertarian running for U.S. House in 2024. Here is his website.

Socialist Workers Party Becomes the Fifth Party in U.S. History to Have Run Presidential Candidates Without a Break for Over Three-Quarters of a Century

Only five parties in U.S. history have run a presidential nominee continuously for over 75 years: the Democratic, Republican, Prohibition, Socialist Labor, and now the Socialist Workers Party.

The SWP has run in all presidential elections 1948-2024. The SLP did no 1892-1976 (also it had unpledged presidential electors in 1888, in New York state only). The Prohibition Party has run a nominee 1872-2024.

The SWP in the last election set itself apart from other parties of the left, by taking a relatively pro-Israel position relating to war and conflict in Gaza.

The SWP runs for offices other than President. It is running Eric Simpson for Mayor of Oakland, California, and he has already qualified for the ballot. That election is April 15, 2025.