Statement May Allow Gov't to Open Mail
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http://www.wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1023181
Statement May Allow Gov't to Open Mail
Jan 5th - 7:43am
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A signing statement attached to postal legislation
by President Bush last month may have opened the way for the
government to open mail without a warrant. The White House denies any
change in policy.
The law requires government agents to get warrants to open first-class
letters. But when he signed the postal reform act, Bush added a
statement saying that his administration would construe that provision
"in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the
need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."
"The signing statement raises serious questions whether he is
authorizing opening of mail contrary to the Constitution and to laws
enacted by Congress," said Ann Beeson, an attorney with the American
Civil Liberties Union. "What is the purpose of the signing statement
if it isn't that?"
Beeson said the group is planning to file a request for information on
how this exception will be used and to ask whether it has already been
used to open mail.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said there was nothing new in
the signing statement.
In his daily briefing Snow said: "All this is saying is that there are
provisions at law for _ in exigent circumstances _ for such
inspections. It has been thus. This is not a change in law, this is
not new."
Postal Vice President Tom Day added: "As has been the long-standing
practice, first-class mail is protected from unreasonable search and
seizure when in postal custody. Nothing in the Postal Accountability
and Enhancement Act changes this protection. The president is not
exerting any new authority."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who guided the measure through the
Senate, called on Bush to clarify his intent.
The bill, Collins said, "does nothing to alter the protections of
privacy and civil liberties provided by the Constitution and other
federal laws."
"The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and our federal
criminal rules require prior judicial approval before domestic sealed
mail can be searched," she said.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Bush's action.
"Every American wants foolproof protection against terrorism. But
history has shown it can and should be done within the confines of the
Constitution. This last-minute, irregular and unauthorized
reinterpretation of a duly passed law is the exact type of maneuver
that voters so resoundingly rejected in November," Schumer said.
The ACLU's Beeson noted that there has been an exception allowing
postal inspectors to open items they believe might contain a bomb.
"His signing statement uses language that's broader than that
exception," she said, and noted that Bush used the phrase "exigent
circumstances."
"The question is what does that mean and why has he suddenly put this
in writing if this isn't a change in policy," she said.
In addition to suspecting a bomb or getting a warrant, postal
officials are allowed by law to open letters that can't be delivered
as addressed _ but only to determine if they can find a correct
address or a return address.
Bush has issued at least 750 signing statements during his presidency,
more than all other presidents combined, according to the American Bar
Association.
Typically, presidents have used signing statements for such purposes
as instructing executive agencies how to carry out new laws.
Bush's statements often reserve the right to revise, interpret or
disregard laws on national security and constitutional grounds.
"That non-veto hamstrings Congress because Congress cannot respond to
a signing statement," ABA President Michael Greco has said. The
practice, he has added, "is harming the separation of powers."
The president's action was first reported by the New York Daily News.
The full signing statement said:
"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.
