456
Syllabus
accuracy. And an interest in accuracy here favors the Bureau, which uses imputation as a last resort after other methods have failed. The Court need not decide here the precise methodological limits foreseen by the Census Clause. It need say only that in this instance, where all efforts have been made to reach every household, where the methods used consist not of statistical sampling but of inference, where that inference involves a tiny percent of the population, where the alternative is to make a far less accurate assessment of the population, and where consequently manipulation of the method is highly unlikely, those limits are not exceeded. Pp. 473-479.
182 F. Supp. 2d 1165, affirmed.
Breyer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg, JJ., joined, and in which O'Connor, J., joined as to Parts I and II. O'Connor, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, post, p. 479. Thomas, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Kennedy, J., joined, post, p. 488. Scalia, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 510.
Thomas R. Lee argued the cause for appellants. With him on the briefs were Carter G. Phillips, Gene C. Schaerr, Michael S. Lee, Mark L. Shurtleff, Attorney General of Utah, Raymond A. Hintze, Chief Civil Deputy Attorney General, and J. Mark Ward, Assistant Attorney General.
Walter Dellinger argued the cause for appellees North Carolina et al. With him on the brief were Jonathan D. Hacker, Roy Cooper, Attorney General of North Carolina, and James Peeler Smith and Tiare B. Smiley, Special Deputy Attorneys General.
Solicitor General Olson argued the cause for the federal appellees. With him on the brief were Assistant Attorney General McCallum, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, Malcolm L. Stewart, Mark B. Stern, and Jonathan H. Levy.*
*Valle Simms Dutcher and L. Lynn Hogue filed a brief for the Southeastern Legal Foundation, Inc., as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Nancy Northup and Deborah Goldberg filed a brief for the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law as amicus curiae urging affirmance.
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