Morales v. Daley

In 2000, the United States Department of Commerce (defendant) sent out the decennial census, consistent with its constitutional and statutory mandate. Two forms of the census were issued: the short form and the long form. Both forms asked how many people were living in the home as of April 1, 2000, which was the only question mandated by the Constitution. Both forms also asked for various demographic information, including individuals’ self-identifications of their race and relevant medical information. Both forms explained that failure to provide accurate information could lead to penalties and that respondents were required by law to complete the forms. There was a longstanding history of seeking this information on United States censuses. Moreover, federal law made census returns confidential. Edgar Morales and a group of citizens (collectively, citizens) (plaintiffs) claimed that various census questions violated their rights under the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment. Specifically, the citizens argued that the questions regarding self-classification of race violated their First Amendment rights by compelling speech with which they disagreed. The citizens also argued that the questions regarding medical conditions violated their rights to privacy under the Fourth Amendment as an unreasonable search.