Lamont v. Postmaster General
Encyclopedia
Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301
(1965), 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 1962a 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, accepting the material by indicating a desire to do so on a card provided by the Post Office. The card states that, if it not with the addressee's name and consent to receiving the material, it would be returned within 20 days, the Post Office assumed that the addressee does not want that publication or any similar one in the future.
The Court held that
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1965), was a landmark First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
case, in which the ruling of the Supreme Court struck down § 305(a) of the Postal Service and Federal Employees Salary Act of 1962a 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, accepting the material by indicating a desire to do so on a card provided by the Post Office. The card states that, if it not with the addressee's name and consent to receiving the material, it would be returned within 20 days, the Post Office assumed that the addressee does not want that publication or any similar one in the future.
The Court held that
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.