I just
thought I might share my letter to the Census Bureau, in response to the
American Community Survey they've been nagging me to complete. Google the
survey to get an idea how intrusive the questions are and what kind of data
they want to collect on each of us, if we are willing to bend over and take it
like good little sheep.
Feel free to use any of my material that might be of help to you,
but understand that I am not qualified to give legal advice to anyone other
than myself, so make your stand at your own peril. I expect further
harassment from the government, as others who defy them have experienced.
I have been resisting the harassment of the US Census Bureau /
Department of Commerce for about four years now; I never experienced such
treatment by the government before that. This may seem to be a small
matter and that I'm not risking much in this little act of civil disobedience. That
may in fact be true. However, if I'm not willing to risk a little in a
small matter, how much would I be willing to risk if the stakes were higher?
Any right worth having is worth defending. This is a matter
of principle, upon which I choose not to compromise. I will update as
this matter continues to unfold.
Here is the content of my letter:
APRIL 09, 2012
US CENSUS BUREAU
PO BOX 5240
JEFFERSONVILLE, IN 47199-5240
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing in response to my receipt of the
American Community Survey questionnaire.
The letter enclosed with your questionnaire states, "You are required by
U.S. law to respond to this survey."
My response to the American Community Survey is
contained entirely within this letter and the questionnaire is being returned
to you blank. While the literature
enclosed in your mailer implies, under color of law, that I am under legal obligation
to complete and return the survey, the United States government has no
authority under the US Constitution to make such a demand, nor does the Legislative
Branch possess the authority to pass such a law so as to require it.
In regards to the Census itself, Article I, Section
2 of the Constitution gives the authority for and states the purpose of the
Census (referred to as the enumeration), in determining the composition of the
House of Representatives:
"[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to
the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term
of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.]*
The actual Enumeration shall be made within
three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and
within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law
direct. The Number of
Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State
shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three,
Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut
five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland
six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three."
The American Community Survey is not the
enumeration referred to in Article I, Section 2 of the US Constitution. I complied with the legal requirements of the
constitutionally authorized enumeration in 2010; I am not obligated to do so
again until 2020. My name, sex, age,
date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship, housing tenure,
etc. have absolutely nothing to do with apportioning direct taxes or
determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefore, neither Congress nor the US Census
Bureau has the constitutional authority to make that information demand. Additionally, I cannot be subject to penalty
for basing my conduct on the US Constitution since that document supersedes any
law passed by Congress.
I submit, as further evidence of a lack of
constitutional authority, the following SCOTUS references:
As
indicated in Interstate Commerce Commission vs. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May
26, 1894) Supreme Court:
"Neither
branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate],
still less any merely administrative body [such as the U.S. Census Bureau],
established by Congress, possesses, or can be invested with, a general power of
making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen. Kilbourn v. Thompson,
103 U.S. 168, 190. We said in Boyd v. U.S., 116 U. S. 616, 630, 6 Sup. Ct. 524,
-and it cannot be too often repeated, -that the principles that embody the
essence of constitutional liberty and security forbid all invasions on the part
of government and its employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the
privacies of his life."
Pacific
Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250 Justice Field stated, and was upheld in the
following:
"…of
all the rights of the citizen, few are of greater importance or more essential
to his peace and happiness than the right of personal security, and that
involves, not merely protection of his person from assault, but exemption of
his private affairs, books, and papers from inspection and scrutiny of others.
Without the enjoyment of this right, all others would lose half their value…"
While the Census Bureau states that Title 13
requires the information collected to remain strictly confidential, I hold such
assurance to be suspect, with historical justification. Data from the 1940 Census was used to
identify Japanese, Italian and German Americans for internment during World War
II. Beyond providing geographic information
to the War Department, the Census Bureau released a wealth of personal information
to the Treasury Department on Japanese Americans, in response to an "unspecified
threat" against President Roosevelt in 1943.
The release of "strictly confidential" data was perfectly legal during
World War II, under the Second War Powers Act, and more recently in 2001 and
2003, under the terms of the Patriot Act, when the Census Bureau turned over
information collected on Americans of Arab decent to the Department of Homeland
Security. Such are the reasons our
founders crafted the constitution with such strict limitations on the authority
and powers of the federal government; it is incumbent upon the responsible
citizen to be aware of such protections.
I further argue that, as there is no constitutional
authority to demand such information, any further pursuit toward this end,
absent a warrant, constitutes clear violation of my rights under the Fourth
Amendment and shall be responded to accordingly.
If any further attempt is made to distort the law
or threaten me with a fine or other penalty, I shall refer this matter to both local
law enforcement and the US Department of Justice, requesting prosecution of any
individuals making such threat(s).
Respectfully,
A Citizen of the United States of America
© the stiff lizard
