Lamont v. Postmaster General
| Lamont v. Postmaster General | |
|---|---|
| Argued April 26, 1965 Decided May 24, 1965 | |
| Full case name | Corliss Lamont, dba Basic Pamphlets, Appellant v. Postmaster General of the United States |
| Citations | 381 U.S. 301 (more) 85 S.Ct. 1493; 14 L. Ed. 2d 398; 1965 U.S. LEXIS 2286 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 229 F. Supp. 913 (S.D.N.Y. 1964); probable jurisdiction noted, 379 U.S. 926 (1964). |
| Holding | |
| The Postal Service and Federal Employees Salary Act is unconstitutional since it imposes on addressees an affirmative obligation that amounts to an unconstitutional limitation of their rights under the First Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Douglas |
| Concurrence | Brennan, joined by Goldberg |
| Concurrence | Harlan |
| White took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I | |
Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301 (1965), was a landmark First Amendment Supreme Court case, in which the ruling of the Supreme Court struck down § 305(a) of the Postal Service and Federal Employees Salary Act of 1962, a federal statute requiring the Postmaster General to detain and deliver only upon the addressee's request unsealed foreign mailings of "communist political propaganda."