My Response to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey - Bite Me.

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.

My letter is a compilation of information obtained from various sources.  I used some of what I previously wrote in my blog, back in March 2010 http://stifflizard.blogspot.com/2010/03/noncensus.html, and got some useful info from Truth is Treason http://www.truthistreason.net and The Rutherford Institute https://www.rutherford.org. I'm hoping that I will be able to count on the support of like-minded patriots if the excrement hits the turbine.

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