Post Office Too Big to Mail?
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James Joyner | Tuesday, June 23, 2009 |
Having stolen Pete Davis‘ post title, I’ll at least attempt to answer his question:
the U.S. Postal Service was established by the Constitution. I’d be interested if any constitutional lawyers think the Postal Service could be dismantled without amending the Constitution.
Well, IANA(C)L but am almost certain that nothing in the Constitution requires Congress to maintain a post office. The relevant passage is Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 which provides “The Congress shall have Power . . .To establish Post Offices and post Roads.”
The enumeration of a power is not a mandate to carry it out. For example, the same section provides the power “To provide and maintain a Navy.” Yet the Congress allowed the Navy to lapse for a brief period in our history, reestablishing it with the Naval Act of 1794. For that matter, the same section also gives Congress the power “To declare war.” The fact that it has not done so since 1941 has yet to be ruled unconstitutional.
Justia has a pretty interesting rundown of the Supreme Court cases related to the postal power. This particular question, of course, has never arisen since Congress has never seriously contemplated abolishing the post office.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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The enumeration of a power is not a mandate to carry it out.
Does anyone really care about enumerated powers anymore?
Would a constitution today ensure net neutrality? ;-)
Doing away with the postal service raises the horrific specter of near future government employees "going medical" on us.
I don't think the constitution requires the U.S. government to actually deliver mail but gives it the power to regulate the delivery of mail and assure its integrity and privacy whether it's delivered by Fed-Ex, UPS or Joe's Mail Service.
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