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The Constitution and the Census

The Constitution and the Census. "[An] 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." (U.S. Constitution - Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3)

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The Constitution and the Census

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  1. The Constitution and the Census • "[An] 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." (U.S. Constitution - Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3) • Congress first met in 1789, and the first national census was held in 1790. • The constitutional purpose is apportionment (assigning representatives by the number of people)

  2. The U.S. Census • The first census was taken in 1790, under the responsibility of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. That census, taken by U.S. marshals on horseback, counted 3.9 million inhabitants.

  3. Technology and the Census

  4. the 1880 Census took 9 years to complete at a cost of 5.8 million dollars. • There was concern that the 1890 census would not be completed before the 1900 Census. • punch-card machines, invented by former Census Bureau employee Herman Hollerith, evolved into computers when Hollerith founded what was to become the IBM Corp.

  5. Expanding the mandate… • Beyond counting people, the census was tasked with asking questions about economic and social conditions.

  6. • Age and sex, 1790-present (but only for free Whites until 1820) • Slave status, 1790-1860 • Color or race, 1790-present (see section below) • Citizenship, 1820-1830, 1870, 1890-present • Physical or mental handicap, 1830-1930, 1970-present • Education or literacy, 1840 present • Marital status, 1880-present • Occupation, 1850-present • Industry, 1820, 1840, 1910-present • Employment status, 1880-present (except 1920) • Crime, 1850-1910 • Mortality, 1850-1890 • Place of birth, 1850-present • Wage rates, 1850-1890 • Income, 1940-present • Pauperism, 1850-1860, 1880-1890, 1910 • Prisoners, 1880-1910 • Institutionalized persons, 1880- 1890, 1910 • Year of immigration, 1890-1930, 1970-present • Number of children ever born, 1890- 1910, 1940-1990 • Language (or whether the person could speak English), 1890-1940, 1960-present • Language of parents, 1910-1920 • Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent, 1970-present In the 20th century, interest focused on people’s economic characteristics—their jobs and how they traveled to work, their income, and how well they were housed.

  7. Geographic data. • Census data is provided by: • State • County (or Parish) • Census Tract • Census Block

  8. Tracts • Census Tracts - Census 2000 Criteria • Census tracts are small, relatively permanent geographic subdivisions of a county or equivalent entity. The primary purpose of census tracts is to provide a nationwide set of geographic units that have stable boundaries. For Census 2000, the Census Bureau will work with local participants to delineate census tracts for the entire United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States). • Each census tract must constitute a reasonably compact, continuous land area, all parts of which are internally accessible by road. The entire area and population of a county are covered by census tracts. Census tracts are identified by four-digit numbers ranging from 0001 to 9989 • http://www.census.gov/geo/www/psapage.html#TRACTS

  9. Blocks • Census Block Groups (BGs) - Census 2000 Criteria • Block groups are geographic subdivisions of census tracts; their primary purpose is to provide a geographic summary unit for census block data. A block group must comprise a reasonably compact and contiguous cluster of census blocks. Each census tract contains a minimum of one block group and may have a maximum of nine block groups. • Within a census tract, a block group consists of all census blocks whose numbers begin with the same digit.

  10. Assignment • Locate http://www.vetwellness.com/ • Download appropriate data from the US Census web site for analysis of the client locations. • Census tracts for which counties? States? Which data will be most useful? • Would other demographic data be useful in your analysis?

  11. Privacy and the Census • It is a federal crime to publish or provide individual or individual household data from the US census. • All census data is provided in general statistics of regions. • By ‘blurring’ the data, the privacy of an individual is preserved.

  12. The Basics…. • We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

  13. The ‘right’ to privacy? • Article [IV.] • The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

  14. Although not explicitly stated in the text of the Constitution, in 1890 then to be Justice Louis Brandeis extolled 'a right to be left alone.’ • In all of its forms, however, the right of privacy must be balanced against the state's compelling interests. Such compelling interests include the promotion of public morality, protection of the individual's psychological health, and improving the quality of life. • http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Privacy

  15. Privacy in the 21st Century • GPS • Economic Data (store/credit transactions) • Telephone • Computer communications • Rights vs Responsibilities.

  16. A compelling interest.. Safety and Security • “…preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic…” • When is the individual right to privacy overshadowed by the ‘compelling interest of the state’ to provide conditions “… most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”?

  17. The balancing act… • Privacy vs. Security • Is your location part of your privacy? • Is GPS tracking an invasion of privacy or a critical tool to keep people safe? • Cell phones and E-911 • Remote sensing data and security? e.g. Google Earth and bad guys swimming pools and building permits HAZUS data (every emergency facility, fire station, school etc. in a spatially explicit form)

  18. GIS Data and Privacy • What is your responsibility as a manager of GIS data to insure the privacy (and or security) of the people whose data you maintain? • Customers? • Employees?

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