Lamont v. Postmaster General

Lamont v. Postmaster General
Argued April 26, 1965
Decided May 24, 1965
Full case name Corliss Lamont, dba Basic Pamphlets, Appellant v. Postmaster General of the United States
Citations 381 U.S. 301 (more)
85 S.Ct. 1493; 14 L. Ed. 2d 398; 1965 U.S. LEXIS 2286
Prior history 229 F. Supp. 913 (S.D.N.Y. 1964)
Holding
The Postal Service and Federal Employees Salary Act is unconstitutional since it imposes on addressees an affirmative obligation that amounts to an unconstitutional limitation of their rights under the First Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Arthur Goldberg
Case opinions
Majority Douglas
Concurrence Brennan, joined by Goldberg
Concurrence Harlan
White took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301 (1965),[1] was a landmark First Amendment Supreme Court case, in which the ruling of the Supreme Court struck down § 305(a) of the Postal Service and Federal Employees Salary Act of 1962, a federal statute requiring the Postmaster General to detain and deliver only upon the addressee's request unsealed foreign mailings of "communist political propaganda."

Under the stricken code, a recipient of material deemed "political propaganda" was required to indicate their intent to receive such materials before they were delivered and accept the material by indicating a desire to do so on a card provided by the Post Office.[1] The card stated that except with the addressee's name and consent to receiving the material, it would be returned within 20 days, the Post Office assuming that the addressee does not want that publication or any similar one in the future.[1]

The Court held:

the Act, as construed and applied, is unconstitutional, since it imposes on the addressee an affirmative obligation which amounts to an unconstitutional limitation of his rights under the First Amendment.[1]

The Court was unanimous in the judgment (8-0, with Justice White recused). Justice Brennan wrote a concurring opinion (which Justice Goldberg joined) and Justice Harlan also wrote a concurring opinion.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301 (1965).  This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.

Further reading

  • Sigler, Jay A. (1965). "Freedom of the Mails: A Developing Right". Georgetown Law Journal. 54: 30.
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