To the Editor:
Re “Conservatives on Court Appear to Back New Citizenship Query” (front page, April 24):
If the Supreme Court clears the way for citizenship to be one of the questions in the 2020 census, then I, for one, will notify any inquiring census-taker that I refuse to participate on the grounds that it is a politicized, cynical and manipulative abuse of the traditions and stated purposes of the entire exercise.
And the Roberts court — by a 5-to-4 vote (I can just feel it coming) — will have definitively revealed itself to be a cravenly partisan court that cries out for reform and redress by whatever constitutional means are at hand and within the power of the other branches of our government.
Ben W. Dickinson
New York
To the Editor:
Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution says that there will be an enumeration of the number of people in the states to determine the level of representation in the House of Representatives.
It would seem straightforward even to those folks who are strict constitutionalists that we should count all the people, not some of the people. The Supreme Court should focus on the intent of the Constitution and do whatever it takes to ensure that all the people are counted.
Who knew the solution could be so uncomplicated?
Robert Morisse
Bloomfield, Conn.
To the Editor:
Re “The Census Question for the Court,” by William W. Buzbee (Op-Ed, April 23):
Perhaps the Supreme Court justices deciding the citizenship question should talk to the census-takers who have gone door to door with census questionnaires.
As a census-taker for five months in 2010, I can say that it was hard enough to get people to open their doors at all. If people know that they are going to be asked the citizenship question, a population count will have more than the 5 percent inaccuracy rate suggested by the Census Bureau’s own experts.
Margot Head
New York
To the Editor:
Re “Will the Census Count All of Us?” (editorial, April 21):
I was a census supervisor in Midtown Manhattan for the 2010 census. We followed up nonresponders, often in luxury apartment complexes, and soon realized that many people we suspected were very wealthy simply refused to submit their census forms.
These cases were reported to census officials, but I doubt that any penalties were levied, though that was a legal option.
I experienced the same results in the same areas working for a New York City housing census in 2017.
Larry Budner
New York
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | The Supreme Court and the Census Question
Opinion | The Supreme Court and the Census Question
To the Editor:
Re “Conservatives on Court Appear to Back New Citizenship Query” (front page, April 24):
If the Supreme Court clears the way for citizenship to be one of the questions in the 2020 census, then I, for one, will notify any inquiring census-taker that I refuse to participate on the grounds that it is a politicized, cynical and manipulative abuse of the traditions and stated purposes of the entire exercise.
And the Roberts court — by a 5-to-4 vote (I can just feel it coming) — will have definitively revealed itself to be a cravenly partisan court that cries out for reform and redress by whatever constitutional means are at hand and within the power of the other branches of our government.
Ben W. Dickinson
New York
To the Editor:
Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution says that there will be an enumeration of the number of people in the states to determine the level of representation in the House of Representatives.
It would seem straightforward even to those folks who are strict constitutionalists that we should count all the people, not some of the people. The Supreme Court should focus on the intent of the Constitution and do whatever it takes to ensure that all the people are counted.
Who knew the solution could be so uncomplicated?
Robert Morisse
Bloomfield, Conn.
To the Editor:
Re “The Census Question for the Court,” by William W. Buzbee (Op-Ed, April 23):
Perhaps the Supreme Court justices deciding the citizenship question should talk to the census-takers who have gone door to door with census questionnaires.
As a census-taker for five months in 2010, I can say that it was hard enough to get people to open their doors at all. If people know that they are going to be asked the citizenship question, a population count will have more than the 5 percent inaccuracy rate suggested by the Census Bureau’s own experts.
Margot Head
New York
To the Editor:
Re “Will the Census Count All of Us?” (editorial, April 21):
I was a census supervisor in Midtown Manhattan for the 2010 census. We followed up nonresponders, often in luxury apartment complexes, and soon realized that many people we suspected were very wealthy simply refused to submit their census forms.
These cases were reported to census officials, but I doubt that any penalties were levied, though that was a legal option.
I experienced the same results in the same areas working for a New York City housing census in 2017.
Larry Budner
New York
Source: Read Full Article