Lamont v. Postmaster General of the United States 381 U.S. 301 (1965)

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LAMONT v. POSTMASTER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES 381 U.S. 301 (1965)

A 1962 act of Congress required the postmaster general to detain all unsealed mail of foreign origin determined to be "communist political propaganda," and to notify the addressee that the mail would be delivered only if he requested it by returning an official reply card. The Supreme Court, 8–0, held the act unconstitutional as an abridgment of the addressee's first amendment rights. Justice william o. douglas, for the Court, declared that the act sought to control the flow of ideas and was at war with the wide-open discussion of ideas protected by the amendment.

Leonard W. Levy
(1986)

(see also: Listeners' Rights.)

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