Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has appeared in a rare public service announcement to encourage New Yorkers to fill out the 2020 Census.
In a brief video released by NYC Census 2020 on Monday, Breyer urged people to take the census seriously while reminding them that the information was vital to the country.
“Today, I want to encourage you to fill out your census forms,” the 81-year-old justice said in the video. “How many representatives your state has in Congress, depends on the answers to those questions.”
THIS JUST IN: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer releases rare PSA to encourage New Yorkers to complete the #2020Census. His message underscores why the census is key to New York City’s rebuilding after #COVID19! #GetCountedNYC pic.twitter.com/hieSi3OfH8
— Julie Menin (@JulieMenin) April 13, 2020
The U.S. Constitution mandates a census every 10 years. The data collected in the questionnaire helps determine congressional representation, the drawing of electoral districts, and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funds.
During the video, Breyer emphasized how important the census was to New Yorkers who are at the epicenter of America’s CCP virus pandemic, which has resulted in lockdowns that have devastated the New York City’s economy. Nearly 10,000 deaths in the state have been attributed to the virus.
“New York has been going through a very difficult time with coronavirus, just terrible,” he said. “The amount of health care aid, of hospital aid, of emergency aid, of school aid, for New York and every other state depends upon the answers to your questionnaires.”
Last year, the census came into the spotlight after the Trump administration tried to add in a question about citizenship, arguing that it was needed to gather data to help enforce the Voting Rights Act. This sparked a court battle that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The top court blocked the question from being added to the census in a 5-4 ruling in June last year.
In response to the public health emergency caused by the pandemic, Supreme Court justices have retreated from public view and are mainly working from home after the court was closed to the public last month. In recent days, Breyer has appeared publicly while working from home in a video conference chat with students last week. His interview with The Wall Street Journal about life amid the pandemic was also published earlier this month.
U.S. residents have until Aug. 14 to complete the questionnaire online, by phone, or by mail.
This article is from the Internet:Justice Stephen Breyer Encourages New Yorkers to Complete Census in Rare PSA