Supreme Court halts mail delivery lawsuit

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld a law that shields the United States Postal Service from liability when mail is intentionally not delivered.

The case, USPS v. Konan, centers around a Texas woman who sued the U.S. Postal Service for allegedly withholding her mail and interfering with its delivery. Lebene Konan cited the Federal Tort Claims Act, a law that allows U.S. citizens to sue the federal government for negligent or wrongful acts of federal employees.

However, the Federal Tort Claims Act contains several exceptions. The postal exception, relevant in this case, gives the United States immunity from “all claims arising out of the loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters or postal matters.”

“The Court declines to limit ‘miscarriage’ to negligent failures, as no dictionaries cited impose this limitation, and ordinary speakers used ‘miscarriage’ to refer to problems with mail caused by intentional misconduct, such as when mail was stolen or burned,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote.

Tho...