USPS nearly always lets law enforcement spy on Americans' mail without warrant

[boingboing]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/26/usps-nearly-always-lets-law-enforcement-spy-on-americans-mail-without-warrant.html

…

[Mel_J]

Contributed by Natalie Dressed

[danimagoo]

@boingboing

The practice is legal, and the inspectors said they share only what they can see on the outside of the mail; the Fourth Amendment requires them to get a warrant to peek inside.

Yeah, the current interpretations of the 4th Amendment are pretty cop friendly. That’s the direct result of the makeup of the Supreme Court, and I don’t just mean conservatives. Even on the liberal side, former prosecutors have been disproportionately represented. That’s why I was glad to see Biden nominate Jackson, because she has experience as a public defender. She is, in fact, the first Supreme Court Justice with experience as a public defender. Unfortunately, she has recently sided with the majority in a couple of cases that went against defendant’s rights, so…it sucks. The entire system rests on the premise that as long as the police and prosecutors are acting in “good faith”, then any mistakes they make are incidental and ignorable. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Miranda abandoned completely some time in the next few years.

[gracchus]

This is a big part of why anti-choicers want to revive this zombie law.

Comstock Act of 1873

[Punchcard]

Yep. Remember kids, only stuff INSIDE the envelope is protected. Everything else is fair game.

[KathyPartdeux]

Are they ever going to be embarrassed.

[p96]

The USPS says they x-ray packages:

@USPS Mail Security page

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Mail-Security

Is Mail X-Rayed?

Some of the mail that is sent through the United States Postal Service will pass through an X-Ray machine. There are no specific guidelines as to what may or may not be x-rayed, though mail sent to or through larger cities is likely to pass through an X-Ray machine.

If you have additional questions about X-Raying of items, contact your local Post Office.

Note: Marking a mailpiece “Do Not X-Ray” will not forgo the X-Raying of a mailpiece, and may result in the item being considered suspicious.

[MadLibrarian]

*inventories stash of old Mylar baggies from computer parts