Postal Letter

Can the Feds open mail without warrants?

President Bush has "quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans’ mail without a judge’s warrant," the New York Daily News writes this morning. When he put his signature on a postal reform bill on Dec. 20, the newspaper notes, the president added a "signing statement" that "declared his right to open people’s mail under emergency conditions." The key phrase in that statement: "The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."

Public Comments

1. NO
2. yes they can god bless america
3. yep and the privilege is leading to horrendous abuses
4. Yet another one of our rights goes down the tube.......and they talk about the liberals!
5. Yes, it appear that they can. I hope all the people who supported the Patriot Act are satisfied with where it has led.
6. They have been doing it for years without any 'signing statements'. If they want to know what's inside, they will open it, and there seems to be nothing and no-one who would dare try and stop them.
7. Probably they will. Gonzalez was called to testify and refused to answer just that. So it's not going to be something common, but if they feel they can track down terrorist by opening some mail I think they will without warrant. Hard to say for sure though since lately they did announce the warrantless ease dropping will stop. The White House lawyers are setting pretty broad meaning to terms like 'emergency' and 'war time' or whatever.
8. They shouldn't be but if they suspect terrorism.
9. THAT one is going to the supreme court. and it is unconstitutional. a lot!