Patriot Act doesn't override confidentiality in Census, Justice Department says

Provisions of the USA Patriot Act that pertain to the gathering and sharing of information do not override federal confidentiality laws when it comes to the U.S. Census, the Justice Department said this week.

The clarification by government lawyers came at the request of minority lawmakers, who were seeking to allay the fears of constituents about the first national head count since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In a letter sent Wednesday to the leaders of the congressional Asian Pacific, black and Hispanic caucuses, Assistant Attorney General Ronald H. Weich said that federal census laws trump the Patriot Act and will bar local, state or other federal agencies from obtaining information compiled by the count. "If Congress intended to override these protections, it would say so clearly and explicitly," Weich said. The Justice Department is unaware of any instance in which the Patriot Act has been used to obtain census data, spokesman Alejandro Miyar said Thursday.