The Postal Service did not ask for a rehearing of the DC Circuit’s August 9, 2005 decision on postal petitioning. The time for requesting a rehearing has now expired. Therefore, it is now legal for circulators to use perimeter post office sidewalks (but not yet interior sidewalks). However, since not all postal employees may be aware of this, it would be worthwhile for anyone to know that the decision is called Initiative & Referendum Institute v US Postal Service, case no. 04-5045, and that the decision came down Aug. 9, 2005. For those who are ultra-cautious, it would be good to have a copy of that decision. The attorney for the Initiative & Referendum Institute can probably e-mail a copy of the decision to those who really need it. He is David Klein, dfklein@swidlaw.com. Let him know of any experience in which a postal employee bars petitioning in a perimeter sidewalk (perimeter sidewalk is one that is parallel to a public street, not a sidewalk leading from a post office itself to the post office parking lot).
I work one block away from a post office. Supporters of LaRouche show up there two or three times a year to distribute literature or collect signatures. I have asked the postal employees about this twice, and they said the same thing both times: the LaRouche supporters are allowed to be there as long as they do not hinder people from using the Post Office.
I assume that this is a local decision.
I have recently been kicked off postal property in Eagle River and Palmer, Alaska. When will P.O. petitioning be allowed?