Ask Me Help Desk - Ignoring the you.S. Census

Can anyone tell me how much trouble I can get into by ignoring the U.S. census?
As for why?
There is not a concrete answer,I can only say
#! I'm not happy with the national debt inquired over all this bailout and I think I want a census of them
#2where I live there are a lot of illegal,undocumented,aliens residents and whatever p.c. term you want to call them and there is no way they can answer a census so its going to be flawed anyway right?
Saturday I had a guy show up to my door from the U.S. census he just said he was randomly stopping at homes to take a survey,he had proper i.d. etc. he said my home would represent 700 others in the area I requested he find another home,he reached for something and said let me leave this with you and I refused that he got a real puzzled look and wal;ked away,he did say next year they will be going to EVERY house..

Here's what the US Census site says: "Why
The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2) mandates a headcount of everyone residing in the United States. The population totals determine each state's Congressional representation. The numbers also affect funding in your community and help inform decision makers about how your community is changing. More info…

How
The Census Bureau will mail or deliver questionnaires to your house in March 2010. We will mail a second form to households that do not respond to the initial questionnaire.

Households that still do not respond will be called or visited by a Census worker. (Census workers can be identified by a census badge and bag.)"

"If you refuse to give out the information or you deliberately give inaccurate information, you can be in legal trouble. According to United States Code, Title 13 (Census), Chapter 7 (Offenses and Penalties), SubChapter II, if you're over 18 and refuse to answer all or part of the Census, you can be fined up to $100. If you give false answers, you're subject to a fine of up to $500. If you offer suggestions or information with the "intent to cause inaccurate enumeration of population," you are subject to a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both. Here's the official verbiage:

221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers

(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.
Sec. 222. Giving suggestions or information with intent to cause inaccurate enumeration of population

Whoever, either directly or indirectly, offers or renders to any officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof engaged in making an enumeration of population under subchapter II, IV, or V of chapter 5 of this title, any suggestion, advice, information or assistance of any kind, with the intent or purpose of causing an inaccurate enumeration of population to be made, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."

Is this a threat or does it really happen? I don't know.

HowStuffWorks "What happens if I don't fill out my census form?"

Zip - Do you really want to know what happens if you don't fill the form out.. Probably not.

They are probably wanting to know who has the large homes in the area where they can double up families in homes. I don't know.

JudyKT told you the skinny on what happens. You apparently won the census lottery. You'll just have to go along with the charade or face some kind of consequences.

Hi, zippit!

I would just like to add, that if a person lives by them self and there aren't records of anyone else residing at the residence for any reason, than probably nothing is going to happen. But, I'm also reporting that nothing happened to me concerning the 2000 Census under what I'll describe below:

I ignored/neglected(?) the 2000 census. Even though I had an unlisted phone number at the time, I got a recorded call from the then Governor of Illinois about filling out the Census form. I still didn't fill it out...

Nothing happened after that... That's probably because there are no records of anyone other than myself living at my residence since 1990. There are also many documents that I've had to fill out for various reasons and have stated that I live in my residence without another person living with me.

Now, if there were any records of any kind somewhere of others living at my residence, like if I had tenants, was some sort of half-way house, etc. then I've known it where a Catholic Worker House when the person running it refused to fill out the Census, that he was continually harassed by entities of the Governemt.

Now, if the information that Judy has given us here is the most up-to-date, then it would probably be in my as well as in your best interests to be filling out the Census questionnaire.

Thanks!

They will come knocking at your door... trust me, and they won't leave you alone until you answer the door.

Quote:

Originally Posted by J_9

They will come knocking at your door.....trust me, and they won't leave you alone until you answer the door.

This is dead on I already received a letter stating they sent this gut to my house and next time you will cooperate.
Since I have no difining reason i.e. conscienous objection I will do the survey,it would be foolish to loose your freedom,or some cash over being hard headed.

Just :mad: me a census NOW! How many ka-zillions is this wasting?
There is no way its accurate with 30 million illegals not represented!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clough

Now, if the information that Judy has given us here is the most up-to-date, then it would probably be in my as well as in your best interests to be filling out the Census questionaire.

Thanks!

It'd up to date - the US Code doesn't change frequently or easily.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippit

Can anyone tell me how much trouble I can get into by ignoring the U.S. census?

Hello z:

I don't know how much you're willing to DO to. MOST people cave when the government comes knocking on their door. That's because people know the government is capable of rendering them away to some foreign land never to be heard from again...

You laugh... I would have laughed too, a couple years ago. But, you KNOW I speak the truth...

If you don't want to answer ANY questions, your Fifth Amendment right NOT to incriminate yourself is STILL a right you have left..

What criminal act could you divulge when you fill out the form? I don't know... But, THEY certainly think you could, and they make provisions for it. In the law Judy presented, there's TWO places where they very clearly say they're going to slam you if they think you lied on the form... So, why even give 'em the chance? I suggest that declaring your refusal to answer, because you MIGHT incriminate yourself, not only makes sense, IT'S YOUR RIGHT!

Will anything happen to you if you DO that?? I can't imagine what. It IS the Constitution, for crying out loud. IF they think there is some criminal activity going on, LET them investigate. But, of course, there isn't, and they'll go away..

Yes, there's certain RISKS to pulling on Superman's cape... In this great country of ours, that shouldn't be... But, you can lay down, and I understand why you would... But, I ain't going to.

excon

Just like on the phone, someone at the door, I would refuse to talk to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Just like on the phone, someone at the door, I would refuse to talk to them.

Hi, Fr_Chuck!

Why, Fr_Chuck would you do that?

Thanks!

While I agree with standing up to the government when necessary, a census is not the place to do it. There is no principal involved with allowing yourself to be accurately counted.

As for undocumented illegals, they Shouldn't be counted since the primary purpose of census is to establish representation and illegal aliens should not have a voice in government.

There is a saying "pick the battles that you can win". I disagree with that. Pick the battles that need fighting. This just isn't one of them.

I question whether AMHD should advocate breaking the law - but, of course, I know it happens.

Those census figures are used for a variety of things from school aid on down and I see no point in refusing to disclose info.

And in the second place does anyone think the Government already doesn't have 99.9% of this info?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

I question whether AMHD should advocate breaking the law -

Hello Judy:

I don't either. But, I also don't think invoking your Fifth Amendment right IS breaking the law.

excon

So the question is whether refusing to answer is invoking 5th amendment rights.

Maybe Zippit will refuse to answer and let us know what happens next.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

So the question is whether refusing to answer is invoking 5th amendment rights.

Maybe Zippit will refuse to answer and let us know what happens next.

Hello again, Judy:

No, simply refusing to answer is refusing to answer... That's a crime as far as I can tell... I suggest one needs to purposefully, and willfully invoke ones rights leaving as wide a paper trail as one could. I suggest it be done as an attachment to the form or hand delivered to the census taker.

I'm not suggesting that anyone DO this. However, the OP's question was how much trouble they could get into by ignoring the census. I'm simply saying that if they did the right thing, maybe they wouldn't get into ANY trouble.

excon

The way the Law is written I find no "loopholes," including anything a person can cite as part of the 5th amendment rights or any other reason not to answer.

Again - I'm not going to be the one to try this but perhaps someone will and will let "us" know how it works out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

The way the Law is written I find no "loopholes," including anything a person can cite as part of the 5th amendment

Hello again, Judy:

I don't think the Constitution IS a loophole... Here's why I think it applies. In criminal law, if the government wants certain information bad enough, it gives the holder of that information immunity from prosecution. That means anything they say CAN'T be used against them in a court of law...

But here, we've got the government telling us that is wants certain information. But, not only is it NOT willing to grant us immunity for supplying it, it THREATENS us with prosecution should something we say, in this LONG and involved form, happen to be wrong...

I'm simply suggesting, that IRRESPECTIVE of the wants of government, the people's Fifth Amendment right NOT to comply and possibly incriminate themselves DOES apply in this situation...

Now, if the government DIDN'T threaten prosecution, in effect, granting immunity, one couldn't use the Fifth Amendment. But, they are threatening, so I say one should invoke their right NOT to give them the opportunity..

I could be wrong, of course... I was wrong back in '47.

excon

I thought I was wrong once - but I was mistaken.

Well, we can't settle this this way so come on over and I'm arm wrestle you. Winner is right; loser is wrong (legally).

I do understand what you are saying. I'm working today and going to run this past an Attorney who does a lot of civil rights work (like he'll have the answer!). I'm sure he'll give me a blank stare but I'm going to try.

If you refuse to answer the census, then they have to keep coming back. If your form was not received by April 16, then an enumerator will knock on your door. If you don't answer the door, then they have to keep coming back. Each time they come back, the person gets paid. So you are wasting your own tax dollars making them come back over and over and over again.

Enumerators will have badges and a tote bag that says US Census Bureau on it. They won't ask to enter your home, nor will they ask any information pertaining to being legal in this country, or financial information. The list of questions they ask is available online. If you don't answer them all, then they may come back again.

None of the information they ask deals with "self-incrimination". All the information asked of you can be found in public records, so what's the problem? They don't care if you are a felon, if you are illegal, or even if you are shooting heroin 5 seconds before you answer the door. Just do the form, and they will go away, and you can go back to polishing your rifle or shooting more heroin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by highachiever

None of the information they ask deals with "self-incrimination".

Hello high:

This, being the legal board, in order to comment on the Fifth Amendment, you should UNDERSTAND it first. You don't. Please read the discussion I had with Judy. It pretty much explains that the "self incrimination" aspect of my answer, has NOTHING to do with the questions being asked. It has to do with the PENALTY if you do NOT answer them.

excon