?!?!!WHAT!!?!?! USPS MAIL IS [MAYBE] NOT PROTECTED BY 4TH AMENDMENT (DONT NEED WARRANT TO OPEN)

ok, first off, the title is slightly misleading, because I'm still not sure, and some is definitely still protected, but it's a bit unclear, and I feel like it's vague enough that a corrupt postal inspector would use one as an excuse.

Resource 1 - Postal Inspector's Site

  1. Can Postal Inspectors open mail if they feel it may contain something illegal? First-Class letters and parcels are protected against search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, and, as such, cannot be opened without a search warrant. If there is probable cause to believe the contents of a First-Class letter or parcel violate federal law, Postal Inspectors can obtain a search warrant to open the mailpiece. Other classes of mail do not contain private correspondence, and therefore may be opened without a warrant.

This is the one that has me worried. This means they can't open first class or parcels. However, priority mail envelopes don't fall under either of those categories, and priority mail envelopes probably consist of 80-90% of the USPS drug traffic. So a postal inspector could use this as their reason for not getting a warrant. Dunno if it's valid or not necessarily, but it's there.

 

Resource 2 - USPS FAQ

Below list the classes of mail which are closed against postal inspection (the Postal Service™ will not open these items to check to see if the proper price has been paid):

  • First-Class Mail® items.
  • Priority Mail® items.
  • Priority Mail Express™ items.


Comments


[5 Points] None:

It doesn't matter much. The warrant is super easy to get.....


[5 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] This_Is_That_Moment:

You misunderstand. Priority mail is protected and cannot be opened without a warrant. You read it yourself and if you read a bit more you would've noticed that priority mail items are, for all intents and purposes, first-class mail.


[1 Points] coffeencreme:

OH MY GOD WE ARE ALL SCREWED WHAT WE GONNA DO??!!!

I'm joking. :)


[1 Points] gotthatgreenthumb:

Priority mail envelopes are protected. They put this in here to protect themselves when they decide to open things like media mail to confirm that it's actual media being sent and not something else. I listened to a postal employee tell a woman yesterday that they may inspect her media mail package to confirm that it's actually media.


[1 Points] STB_KING:

I specifically asked my lawyer about this last week and from what she told me from previous experience they can run drug dogs over any package the deem suspect. She defended a guy that sent either coke or H across country, the name on the package looked suspect so they had the dogs do their thing.

Of course theres more to the story, such as was their an informant or tip off about the package, etc The case was a whioe ago and she wasnt clear on why exactly they examined the package.

Ive always felt the mail is the weak link in this entire process.