Wisconsin v. City of New York et al. (517 U.S. 1)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 20, 1996 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 517 U.S. 1 · 116 S. Ct. 1091
- Decided
- March 20, 1996
- Term
- October Term 1995
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. In conducting the 1990 United States Census, the Secretary of Commerce decided not to use a particular statistical adjustment that had been designed to correct an undercount in the initial enumeration. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the Secretary’s decision was subject to heightened scrutiny because of its effect on the right of individual respondents to have their vote counted equally. We hold that the Secretary’s decision was not subject to heightened scrutiny, and that it conformed to applicable constitutional and statutory provisions. The Constitution requires an “actual Enumeration” of the population every 10 years and vests Congress with the authority to conduct that census “in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” Art. I, § 2, cl. 3. Through the Census Act, 13 U. S. C. § 1 et seq., Congress has delegated to the Secretary of the Department of Commerce the responsibility to take “a decennial census of [the] population ... in such form and content as he may determine ....” § 141(a). The Secretary is assisted in the performance of that responsibility by the Bureau of the Census and its head, the Director of the Census. See §2; §21 (“[The] Director shall perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by law, regulations, or orders of the Secretary”). The Constitution provides that the…
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