Cite as: 505 U. S. 788 (1992)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
821 (1985); Southern R. Co. v. Seaboard Allied Milling Corp., 442 U. S. 444 (1979); Morris v. Gressette, 432 U. S. 491 (1977). These are areas in which courts have long been hesitant to intrude. The taking of the census is not such an area of traditional deference.19
Nor is this an instance in which the statute is so broadly drawn that " 'there is no law to apply.' " Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U. S. 402, 410 (1971) (quoting S. Rep. No. 752, 79th Cong., 1st Sess., 26 (1945)). The District Court found that the overall statutory scheme and the Census Bureau's consistently followed policy provided "law to apply" in reviewing the Secretary's exercise of discretion. 785 F. Supp., at 262. As the District Court explained, the relationship of the census provision contained in 13 U. S. C. § 141 and the apportionment provision contained in 2 U. S. C. § 2a demonstrates that the Secretary's discretion is constrained by the requirement that she produce a tabulation of the "whole number of persons in each State." 2 U. S. C. § 2a(a).20 This statutory command also
19 The great weight of authority supports the view that the conduct of the census is not "committed to agency discretion by law." See, e. g., Carey v. Klutznick, 637 F. 2d 834 (CA2 1980); New York v. United States Dept. of Commerce, 739 F. Supp. 761 (EDNY 1990); New York v. United States Dept. of Commerce, 713 F. Supp. 48 (EDNY 1989); Cuomo v. Baldrige, 674 F. Supp. 1089 (SDNY 1987); Willacoochee v. Baldrige, 556 F. Supp. 551 (SD Ga. 1983); Carey v. Klutznick, 508 F. Supp. 404 (SDNY 1980); Philadelphia v. Klutznick, 503 F. Supp. 663 (ED Pa. 1980); Young v. Klutznick, 497 F. Supp. 1318 (ED Mich. 1980), rev'd on other grounds, 652 F. 2d 617 (CA6 1981), cert. denied sub nom. Young v. Baldrige, 455 U. S. 939 (1982); Camden v. Plotkin, 466 F. Supp. 44 (N. J. 1978).
20 The Census Act provides various other rules, as well, that limit the Secretary's discretion. For example, the statute requires the Secretary to take a decennial census of population "as of the first day of April" in every 10th year. 13 U. S. C. § 141(a). Thus, persons who die in February or March, or who are not born until May or June, are not to be counted. The fact that the statute gives the Secretary broad discretion with respect to the "form and content" of the census surely does not mean that she could lawfully count persons who predeceased the census date or who were
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