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NY Post editorial misrepresented Bush signing statement on opening of mail
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Jan 09, 2007 06:46pm |
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| Category | General |
| News Date | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Summary: A New York Post editorial falsely claimed that a 1996 "law" "permits the opening of mail without a warrant" and that a recent signing statement from President Bush merely echoed "the executive branch's authority created from the earlier law." In fact, the "law" is a postal regulation that allows mail to be opened when it is suspected to be an "immediate danger to life or limb or ... property." Bush's signing statement claimed that executive-branch officials may open mail without a warrant "in exigent circumstances," without specifically defining them.
In a January 8 editorial, the New York Post falsely claimed that a 1996 "law" "permits the opening of mail without a warrant -- under certain dire circumstances" and that President Bush's signing statement on the recently passed postal reform bill merely echoed "the executive branch's authority created from the earlier law." "[D]ire circumstances," the editorial claimed, "include[], but [are] not limited to, reasonable suspicion that a piece of mail contains a bomb or other dangerous materials -- like anthrax spores." In fact, the 1996 "law" -- apparently a U.S. Postal Service regulation not passed by Congress -- is narrower and more specific than the Post suggested, limiting the government's power to open mail without a warrant to situations in which a government employee "reasonably suspect[s]" the piece of mail "of posing an immediate danger to life or limb or an immediate and substantial danger to property" -- and to open it "only to the extent necessary to determine and eliminate the danger." |
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