Letter to the House on the Census

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its nearly 300,000 members I urge you to support legislation that ensures the fairest and most accurate census possible.

The basic democratic principle that each American citizen has a right to equal representation, one person/one vote, relies on a fair and accurate census count. Towards this purpose, the Founders mandated a decennial census in Article 1, section 2, clause 3 of the Constitution. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments (the "Reconstruction Amendments") require a full and inclusive count of the population to include people of color and apportionment of legislative seats so that every American has an equal voice in representative government.

Today, it is widely acknowledged that the decennial census regularly undercounts the population, and that children, renters, minorities, and the poor are disproportionately undercounted. The Census Bureau must employ the most up-to-date scientific counting methods for the 2000 census to procure the most accurate count possible. Otherwise, these undercounted groups will continue to face an unfair erosion of their ability to participate in the democratic process and a symbolic rejection of their status as full members of the polity.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Department of Commerce v. U.S. House of Representatives (No. 98-404) case does not run contrary to the use of scientific statistical sampling in conducting the decennial census. In the opinion of the Court, statistical sampling cannot be used for the purpose of apportionment of Representatives among the states because it violates the Census Act, but they specifically made it a point to say that this does not mean that statistical sampling cannot be used for purposes other than apportionment. In fact, the Court found that the 1976 amendments to Section 195 of the Census Act "changed a provision that permitted the use of sampling for purposes other than apportionment into one that required that sampling be used for such purposes if 'feasible.'" Slip op. at 23.

The Court did not rule on the Constitutional questions, resting the issue on current statutory law. Accordingly, Congress has it within its power to legislate that sampling be used for apportionment in addition to the already mandated use of sampling for all other purposes. Furthermore, because the decennial census serves "the constitutional goal of equal representation," (Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 804 (1992)) Congress has a Constitutional obligation to secure the fairest and most accurate census count possible.

For the ACLU, the real question is: how can Congress require that legislative seats be apportioned on the basis of figures that undoubtedly undercount certain groups? If, as the Supreme Court has consistently held, every person has a right to equal representation and legislative districts must be of equal size in order to satisfy the constitutional demand of equal protection, how can we blind our eyes to social reality and base these fundamental constitutional decisions on figures all agree are flawed?

Legislation will be introduced soon which will employ the use of scientific statistical sampling in the 2000 Decennial Census. I hope that you will support this legislation to ensure that the most accurate numbers will be used for all purposes, including apportionment, and to secure the rights of all Americans to equal representation.

Sincerely,

Laura W. Murphy
Director