Wisconsin v. City of New York - The 1990 Census

Throughout the mid-1980s the Bureau of the Census conducted tests to determine the accuracy of post-enumeration surveys and DSE procedures. By 1987 the bureau had reached the conclusion that these new methods would improve the accuracy of the census, and recommended that they be employed for the 1990 census. Despite this recommendation the Secretary of Commerce announced in October of 1987 that post-enumeration surveying and DSE procedures would not be used in the upcoming census. The secretary believed that the statistical models to be applied in a DSE census would be subject to manipulation for political gain. In response to this decision several states, including Wisconsin, brought suit in district court to force the secretary to employ post-enumeration surveys to DSE procedures correct and adjust the results of the 1990 census. The suit was put on hold, however, when the secretary agreed to reconsider his decision. In July of 1991 the secretary decided to abide by his original decision, and the district court once again considered Wisconsin's case.