So just what am I in for?

[JetGirl]

I got my Census in the mail and did what research I could to find out just what's going to happen to me for answering "how many people live here?", and nothing more.

I've found everything from a $500 fine to a $5000 fine to incarceration.

Because this is an invasion of privacy, and because my Constitution only asks for a number of people count every 10 years...
I plan on NOT answering whether my home is a house, mobile home, or apartment.

I plan on NOT answering "what is your telephone number?"...Nor if the owner of this property lives here, nor what the ratios of genders are, nor dates of birth, nor ethnicity, nor race... and am NOT planning on answering whether anyone lives here part time or not. I also will not be answering the relationship status between any of the members of this household.

Now...I have to tell you, I do not lead a charmed life and I'm usually the person in a group that never flies low enough under the radar to skip out on trouble.
If I'm the lucky party that gets to be the good example of a bad example...just what am I lookin' at here for standing up for my Constitutional rights?

 

[shibumiseeker]

The first two censuses I was part of I gave partial answers to. They sent around census workers and called to get the information they were looking for. I dodged them for a while. Nothing ever came of it.

This time, given how complicated my family situation is, we answered the census documents completely and truthfully, and it is guaranteed to cause them fits

 

[mrjarrell]

Don't sweat it, Annie. They won't do anything to you, just send their minions around to harass you into answering until they get tired of being told to bugger off. The last thing .gov wants is someone to go to court over this and challenge the Constitutionality of it. After sending someone to bug you a couple or few times they'll figure out you're not gonna budge and leave you alone. I'm not sweating any threatened fines on this. Ain't gonna happen. The courts would be clogged for years.

 

[Grizhicks]

Nothing official, BUT... from what I've heard (Fox News), they are going to be more active in getting the information, and that the courts have upheld the fines given for not giving the information. Having said that, my wife and I are at odds on what to do; I want to just give the #, but she's afraid of the fines. More discussion at the Hicks household....

 

[Jay]

The Gov't is worse than broke as it is.... to pursue all those who will give only very limited responses to the census, would be an excersize in futility.....

My response to the census will also be very brief.

 

[JetGirl]

Nothing official, BUT... from what I've heard (Fox News), they are going to be more active in getting the information, and that the courts have upheld the fines given for not giving the information. Having said that, my wife and I are at odds on what to do; I want to just give the #, but she's afraid of the fines. More discussion at the Hicks household....

Well...when the spousal unit handed me the mail, he said, "Deal with this how you see fit."
I see fit to not give any more info than I am Constitutionally legally bound to do.

He knows this is my staunch plan. I guess the answers in this thread won't do anything other than give me a "heads up" on possible outcomes...because I'm not backing down. It may seem trivial to some folks...but this is the hill I picked today. I just want to know what I'm in for.

 

[singlestacksig]

if your phone is a land line or billled to that address, they already know the #.. so ya might as well fill in that question..

same with marriage, if you are married by the state they can figure out if you are living with your spouse..

 

[JetGirl]

they can figure out

Then let them.

 

[IndyMonkey]

Mine must of been lost in the mail.

 

[Jay]

Just ran across this....

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS ON THE US CENSUS 2010 censusrights.com

and........ this

To Whom it May Concern, pursuant to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, the only information you are empowered to request is the total number of occupants at this address. My “name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship and housing tenure” 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 Census Bureau have the constitutional authority to make that information request a component of the enumeration outlined in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. In addition, I cannot be subject to a fine for basing my conduct on the Constitution because that document trumps laws passed by Congress.

Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May 26, 1894): “Neither branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate], still less any merely administrative body [such as the 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 it’s employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of his life. As said by Mr. Justice Field in Re Pacific Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250, ‘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.’” Note: This United States Supreme Court case has never been overturned.

Respectfully, A Citizen of the United States of America

(Disclaimer....the author if this letter is unknown to me.)
​

 

[JetGirl]

Just ran across this....

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS ON THE US CENSUS 2010 censusrights.com

"Pursuant to the above US code you’re only obligated to complete question #1 How many people are living and staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010. Then submit the form to the US government per the US Constitution Article 1 Section 2."

Thank you. I'm currently out, but I'll rep you on recharge...

 

[IndyMonkey]

What if you will not be home on April 1st?

 

[JetGirl]

What if you will not be home on April 1st?

Good point! That's my anniversary and we'll be gone for the day doing way more fun stuff than answering a census!
Like a first time visit to 21st Century!
Thanks!

 

[BloodEclipse]

Civil Disobedience and the Census - Right Mind

Here are the 3 basic rules I follow when I receive requests for personal information on the Census and/or American Community Survey forms.

• I never destroy or deface the forms.
• I never put false information on the forms.
• I never partially complete the forms. If I am going to make the assertion that the requested information does not apply to me or the requested information exceeds the government’s constitutional authority to request the information, I return the form with a cover letter explaining why.

 

[JetGirl]

Civil Disobedience and the Census - Right Mind

I like the doormat that was mentioned in the comments.
I probably wouldn't be so brazen...but I like the idea! A lot!

 

[BloodEclipse]

Walter E. Williams : The Census and the Constitution - Townhall.com

What to do? Unless a census taker can show me a constitutional requirement, the only information I plan to give are the number and names of the people in my household. The census taker might say, "It's the law." Thomas Jefferson said, "Whensoever the General Government (Washington) assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force."

I like Walter Williams.

I'm thinking of the cover letter idea myself.

 

[BloodEclipse]

I like the doormat that was mentioned in the comments.
I probably wouldn't be so brazen...but I like the idea! A lot!

That is a sweet doormat. you wouldn't have to have it out year round. It could be a special occasion mat.

 

[JetGirl]

I think a few of these by my front door may serve me well...
http://www.rexano.org/RegAgency/Public_Servant_Questionnaire _adapted_by_Bob_Hurt.pdf

 

[mk2ja]

Hey one thing I *would* do though, is for the ethnicity/race question, mark "other" and write in American. American was written in by a plurality in 4 states and in many counties in the 2000 census. It is a demonstration that we reject the governments insistence in segregating us by something so trivial as our skin color.

ETA - This is the blog I read about why we should do this write-in.
Michelle Malkin My race is “American”

 

[jedi]

Annie I'm not sure & am in the same boat. Based on everything I read # of people is FOR SURE all that is needed. But there is another portion of the law that needs to know # of adult males as well and thus why I'm inclined to fill out the female/male for each person and age so that they know # of adult males. Filling out the form partially, off course, will bring the workers around.

Plus the cover letter that comes with the census says to mail back ASAP yet if you mail it back right now (before 1 APR 10) technically you are lieing since it's asking about # of people on 01 APR 10 which has not arrived yet. Perhaps on 01 APR 10 you and your spouse seperate, a new life is born, etc...