Ron S. Jarmin

American Community Survey data provide important information that cannot be found elsewhere, and thus it is important that the ACS exists, as the federal government, as well as various businesses, researchers, and local governments use ACS data for planning and decision-making purposes. ACS data are used by public and business decision-makers to more clearly identify issues and opportunities and more effectively allocate scarce resources to address them. In Fiscal Year 2008, 184 federal domestic assistance programs used ACS-related datasets to help guide the distribution of $416 billion, 29 percent of all federal assistance.

The American Community Survey is authorized by 13 U.S.C. § 141 and 13 U.S.C. § 193. Federal courts have held that the long form is constitutional.

In 2000, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that the 2000 Census and the 2000 Census questions did not violate the Fourth Amendment or other constitutional provisions as alleged by plaintiffs. The court said responses to census questions are not a violation of a citizen's right to privacy or speech. Morales v. Daley, 116 F. Supp. 2d 801, 820 (S.D. Tex. 2000)

  The court's decision was later affirmed by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied petition for writ of certiorari. Additionally, a number of other courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have consistently held through the years that the census and the questions in the census are authorized by both the Constitution and statute.  

In 2002, the GAO confirmed that the Census Bureau has authority to conduct the survey and "require responses from the public."    

All individual American Community Survey responses are kept private and are used (along with other ACS responses) to create estimates of demographic characteristics for various geographies. Because of data swapping techniques to ensure confidentiality, it is impossible to figure out how individual people responded based on data from published ACS estimates.

Opposition[edit] Opponents of the American Community Survey disagree with the court’s findings about its constitutionality. They believe the survey asks for more information, and at a higher frequency, than the simple enumeration required by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Despite the GAO's conclusion that the Census Bureau has the authority to conduct the survey under 13 U.S.C. § 141 and 13 U.S.C. § 193, several U.S. representatives have challenged the ACS as unauthorized by the Census Act and a violation of the Right to Financial Privacy Act. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who opposes the ACS, said of it that the founding fathers of the United States "never authorized the federal government to continuously survey the American people.” Those who decline to complete the survey may receive follow-up phone calls and/or visits to their homes from Census Bureau personnel. Because it is a mandatory survey, it is governed by federal laws that could impose a fine of as much as $5,000 for refusing to participate. To date, no person has ever been prosecuted for refusing to answer the ACS. Former Director of the Census Bureau Kenneth Prewitt remarked that the Department of Commerce is "not an enforcement agency" and that "the Department of Justice would have to do the prosecution, and we don't recommend that." The Census Bureau prefers to gain cooperation by convincing respondents of the importance of participation, while acknowledging that the mandate improves response rates (and thus accuracy) and lowers the annual cost of survey administration by more than $90 million. In 2014, the Census Project, a collaboration of pro-Census business and industry associations, gathered signatures from 96 national and local organizations urging the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to reject a proposal to make the American Community Survey voluntary. Signers included organizations as diverse as the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Realtors and the US Conference of Mayors. The letter cited results from a congressionally mandated test of a voluntary ACS that found that mail response rates would drop “dramatically,” by more than 20 percentage points. The resulting loss in quality and reliability would essentially eliminate data for 41 percent of U.S. counties, small cities, towns and villages, many school districts, neighborhoods, remote areas, and American Indian reservations.

 " . . . [I]t is clear that the degree to which these questions intrude upon an individual's privacy is limited, given the methods used to collect the census data and the statutory assurance that the answers and attribution to an individual will remain confidential.  The degree to which the information is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests has been found to be significant.  A census of the type of Census 2000 has been taken every ten years since the first census in 1790.  Such a census has been thought to be necessary for over two hundred years. There is no basis for holding that it is not necessary in the year 2000."

 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the District Court decision on October 10, 2001, 275 F.3d 45.  The U.S. Supreme Court denied petition for writ of certiorari on February 19, 2002, 534 U.S. 1135.  No published opinions were filed with these rulings.

 As early as 1870, the Supreme Court characterized as unquestionable the power of Congress to require both an enumeration and the collection of statistics in the census. The Legal Tender Cases, Tex.1870; 12 Wall., U.S., 457, 536, 20 L.Ed. 287. In 1901, a district court said the Constitution’s census clause (Art. 1, Sec. 2, Clause 3) is not limited to a count of the population and “does not prohibit the gathering of other statistics, if ‘necessary and proper,’ for the intelligent exercise of other powers enumerated in the constitution, and in such case there could be no objection to acquiring this information through the same machinery by which the population is enumerated.”  United States v. Moriarity, 106 F. 886, 891 (S.D.N.Y.1901).  All of these decisions are consistent with the Supreme Court’s recent description of the census as the “linchpin of the federal statistical system ... collecting data on the characteristics of individuals, households, and housing units throughout the country.” Dept. of Commerce v. U.S. House of Representatives, 525 U.S. 316, 341 (1999)."
 US Government Accountability Office (April 4, 2002). "U.S. GAO – Legal Authority for American Community Survey, B-289852". Retrieved 2017-02-06. 
 US Government Accountability Office (April 4, 2002). "U.S. GAO – Legal Authority for American Community Survey, B-289852". Retrieved 2017-02-06.
 "None of Your Business!" by Ron Paul
 The relevant laws are Title 18 U.S.C Section 3571 and Section 3559, which amend Title 13 U.S.C. Section 221.  The ACS is conducted under the authority of Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.), Sections 141 and 193, and response is required by Section 221. The Census Bureau prefers to gain cooperation by convincing respondents of the importance of participation; therefore, addresses that do not respond receive follow-up phone calls and/or visits. However, Section 221 of Title 13 U.S.C. makes it a misdemeanor to refuse or willfully neglect to complete the questionnaire or answer questions posed by census takers and imposes a fine of not more than $100. 

The $100 fine set forth in 13 U.S.C. Section 221 was increased by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (the "Act"), 18 USC, § 3551, et seq. The Act applies to a "defendant who has been found guilty of an offense described in any Federal statute," directing that such person shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 18 U.S.C. § 3551. 13 U.S.C. Section 221 is a Federal statute.

The Act classifies, by letter grade, those offenses not specifically classified in the statute defining the offense. 18 U.S.C. § 3559(a). In this instance, 13 U.S.C. § 221 defines the offense of failing to respond to the Census, but does not classify that offense. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3559, offenses are classified based upon the "maximum term of imprisonment authorized" by the statute defining the offense. The classification applicable to the Census provision (13 U.S.C. § 221) is set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3559(a)(9), classifying as an "infraction" those offenses providing for imprisonment of "five days or less, or ... no imprisonment." The applicable penalty for an "infraction" is then set forth in 18 U .S.C § 3571 (b )(7), specifically providing that one found guilty of an offense "may be fined not more than the greatest of the amount set forth in the law setting forth the offense; ... or for an infraction, not more than $5,000." Because the penalty provided for an infraction ($5,000) is the greater than the fine set forth in 13 U.S.C. § 221 ($100), the penalty for an infraction governs this violation of the Census Act. These penalties are applicable to violations in connection with the ACS, the 2010 Census, and other mandatory surveys and censuses.

 Selby, W. Gardner. "Americans must answer U.S. Census Bureau survey by law, though agency hasn't prosecuted since 1970". Retrieved 2015-07-31.

 US Census Bureau. "Census Bureau, Census 2000, Director Prewitt press briefing on March 30, 2000". www.census.gov. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
 US Census Bureau. "Mandatory vs. Voluntary Methods". www.census.gov. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
 Navarro, Alfredo; King, Karen E.; Starsinic, Michael. “Comparison of the American Community Survey Voluntary Versus Mandatory Estimates” (September 27, 2011). www.census.gov. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
 The Census Project.  Letter to Reps. Darrell Issa and Elijah Cummings, Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 2014-03-11.  

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