On August 9, the US Court of Appeals, DC circuit, issued its opinion in Initiative and Referendum Institute v US Postal Service, 04-5045. By a vote of 3-0, that Court ruled that at least some post office sidewalks are public fora. They also concluded that petitioning cannot be banned on such sidewalks. These would be sidewalks that people would use, even if they weren’t going to the post office building itself. They would be sidewalks that are parallel to streets.
The Court of Appeals remanded the case back to the US District Court (which had upheld the postal regulation) to determine whether a substantial portion of all post office-owned sidewalks are the type of sidewalks that are parallel to streets. If the answer is “yes”, then the postal regulation is unconstitutional on its face. It seems obvious that the answer will be “yes”.
Probably the post office will now re-write its regulation, rather than going through the expense and uncertainty of more litigation. The probable outcome will be a new postal regulation that differentiates between types of sidewalks; or possibly the post office will just drop its ban on petitioning on its own sidewalks.
The court did not say that the interior sidewalks are necessarily off-limits to petitioning. This has not been decided yet. The decision will be in effect when the government’s 45-day period to ask for a rehearing is up (Sep. 23).
I have a dream, that some day high court judges and justices will read the Constitution, which, incidentally they have previously sworn to uphold, and then make their rulings based on that document.
Judges and justices have ruled in the past that private property owners and managers cannot prevent petitioners from using that private property, yet property theoretically owned by us, the citizens and taxpayers, is not for us to use.
I have a dream, and a question: Why don’t those judges and mis-called justices read the First Amendment all the way to the end, and note the part about freedom to petition?
Common sense and a rational sense of justice shows that of course petitioners can circulate on USPS grounds.
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Thank you for this info about the Post Office. How about the DMV locations in Los Angeles county? I was told to contact the CHP about a permit and then was told no money earning petitioning. What’s with that?
Thanks,
Deb Hill