Paul Revere in the 1790 Census

A recurring topic these days is the 2010 US Census, and what exactly one has to do in response to the tri-fold form currently being mailed to every known “home” in the United States.

Information, misinformation, believes, and rumors abound, and the situation isn’t helped by somewhat misleading information provided by the Census itself. (This will be discussed below.)

It isn’t our intention to interpret law or provide legal advice, but it seems to us that one could take a few different positions on the Census:

1. Respond in full, perhaps using the form as requested, or waiting for a door-to-door Census worker to pay a visit;
2. Not respond at all, and waiting to see if a door-to-door Census worker appears;
3. Respond in full or in part, but making some inaccurate or misleading statements on the form; or
4. Respond only to the part that is required for the Census to perform its Constitutional function.

The Census tries to scare people into responding by implying that the maximum fine for not responding is $5,000¹, but it seems that this is misleading at a minimum. A review of the related US Code sections implies that the $5,000 applies only if an individual committed a crime against the Census, which is an act far beyond simply refusing to respond.²

The related US code section is far clearer about specific limits for fines that can be imposed on individuals who don’t respond, or respond with false information. The fines are set at no more than $100 for no response, and $500 for misleading responses.³

For those who choose not to respond, it’s quite likely that a Census worker will appear at the door. If that happens, it’s worth noting that it would be unusual if one were to be required to interrupt anything and everything just to respond to Census inquiries. It is not unreasonable to ask the Census worker to come back some other time. In fact, the Census mentions that they will make up to 3 attempts to get a response, perhaps implying that a fourth won’t be made.⁴ In any case, Census workers are not entitled to enter ones dwelling, and they certainly aren’t entitled to a telephone number, or to set up an appointment, regardless of how hard they might try to obtain these.

With this in mind, what should one respond with?

Not responding to the Census doesn’t help one’s State, because the Census count is used to apportion pork and kickbacks, also known as Federal grants and programs. In addition, the Census data is used to redistrict areas and to assign new Representatives to Congress for States that grow their population faster than others. This brings with it more political power in D.C.

However, it’s also obvious that the vast majority of the Census questions go well beyond the original purpose for which the Census was established in the Constitution, namely that of counting the number of people in any particular area.

On the 2010 “simplified” and “shortened” form, questions range from name, date of birth, sex and race to a telephone number. None of these are necessary for the Constitutional function of the Census, and are probably seen as an invasion of privacy by many if not most Americans.⁵

This is also a far cry from the questions posed on the first Census in 1790, which only inquired:⁶

1. Name of the head of each household.
2. How many free white males age 16 and older.
3. How many free white males under age 16.
4. How many free white females.
5. How many of all other free persons.
6. How many slaves.

The Census tries to set respondents at ease by promising that “the penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000“.⁷ However, such statements are not really honest in describing the real protection afforded to personal data collected by the Census. Excepting weasel clauses that allow sharing of Census data with other Federal agencies, it appears that the actual maximum fine is a paltry $5,000.⁸

Interestingly a flier that comes with the Census form doesn’t focus on the fines for releases of personal information, but instead discusses at length that no information will be given to law enforcement or tax collection agencies. This is clearly intended to encourage a response from those who live at the edges or beyond the legal society, allowing one to comment that seemingly the Census cares more for the privacy of illegal immigrants than that of Citizens.

Making a decision as to how to respond doesn’t need to be difficult. The Census form itself highlights one question out of the dozens that are on it. This question is also the one that the Constitution directly requires the Federal government to determine every 10 years, and it might be no coincidence that the form applies an encouraging statement “Start here” to it:

1. How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010? Number of people = [blank]

Perhaps that’s the only question one should respond to.

© 2010, Pontificus. All rights reserved.

1790 Census, 2010 Census, Constitution, Government takeover, Paul Revere, Privacy