Opinions range regarding what is absolutely required due to the phrase in Article I Section 2 of the US Constitution: “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.”
Many people believe this means the only question you are Constitutionally obligated to answer is the one which asks how many people live in your dwelling.
However, if one digs a little deeper,
(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or
willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any
other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce
or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the
Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his
knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in
connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I,
II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to
the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or
farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not
more than $100.
(b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a)
of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances
described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is
false, shall be fined not more than $500.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person
shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his
religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.
So there you are: if you answer the question about how many folks are in your dwelling but you leave all the other questions blank, it might cost you $100.
2 comments:
Thank you ;]
Actually it could cost you $100 per question you don't answer. Also courts have ruled that laws requiring completing census questionnaires are constitutional. For example, see: http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/news/mh/mh00-1010op.pdf
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