Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution, postal power allows Congress to establish Post Offices and Post Roads.
The United States Supreme Court in Ex parte Jackson observed that the postal power allows Congress to regulate the entire postal system of the country. Congress has, within constitutional limitations, the right to determine what may be carried in the mail and what may be excluded.
In addition, in Hiett v. United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit noted that the postal power may be used broadly to achieve social and economic results that Congress deems beneficial. For example, the power can be used to exclude utterances that are not protected speech on a judgment by Congress that they are harmful, enforce economic regulatory schemes such as securities laws, and encourage certain categories of speech over others when Congress deems that the public interest will be served. However, regulation of speech through the postal power is limited by the First Amendment.
See also: congressional power.
[Last updated in December of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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