Birth Certificate Race Data Upheld in Louisiana

The state’s requirement that birth certificates include the race of a child’s parents was upheld as constitutional Friday by the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal.

The ruling was issued in the case of a woman who has been trying to change the designation on her birth certificate from “colored” to “white.”

Susie Guillory Phipps, the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of a French planter and a slave, lost the attempt to change her racial designation when the circuit court ruled that she had not proved that such a a change was justified. But she went back to the panel for a ruling on the state law requiring that parents’ race be listed on birth certificates.

Data Confidential

“The statute does not result in racial classifications being made by the state,” the appeal court panel said in a brief ruling. “The state registrar of vital records is merely the custodian of information reported by the individuals whose race is recorded.”

The ruling noted that the data is confidential and is not included on copies of birth certificates that are made public. Moreover, the panel noted, the material serves an important purpose.

“It provides statistics which are an essential tool for planning and monitoring the public health programs, affirmative action and other anti-discrimination measures,” the panel said.

Both Phipps and the state had taken the case to the appellate court. After the panel ruled on Oct. 18 on the issue of changing data on birth certificates, Phipps asked the court to reconsider the case and rule on the issue of listing parents’ race on birth certificates, which was not addressed in the original ruling.

Standards Requested

Jack Westholz of the state health department had appealed to the court to set standards to clear up the whole issue.

He said the new ruling would be helpful to his office. “We do need that data for health statistics,” he said.

Plans to Appeal Decision

Brian Begue, lawyer for Phipps, said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court.

He said he was surprised that the ruling brought up the need for state statistics for federal programs, which he said had not been included in any earlier arguments.

The case, which has been pending before the appeals court for two years, is known as the “black blood” case because of the now-repealed Louisiana law that said anyone with more than one-thirty-second of Negro blood was legally black.

Law Repealed

The law was repealed in 1983 because of Phipps’ legal struggle.