Many Americans still burdened with constitutional rights

[james_davis_nicoll]

Using data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This " Constitution-Free Zone" includes most of the nation's largest metropolitan areas.

Is the claim that "nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders" correct? That would seem to require that the rest of the country contains slightly over 1/3rd of the population and since my incredibly untrustworthy eye thinks the first area is much smaller than the second, it implies even lower population densities than I expected for the interior regions.

Comments

[argonel.livejournal.com]

After looking at the maps I'm a little sprised that the ACLU/border patrol didn't imclde any of the major inland port cities. Even just including the ones on the Mississippi it might bump that percentage up to about 75%.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd have to include Minneapolis and St. Paul even though they're not technically within the 100-mile border.