Law Commons^™

The First Amendment And The Postal Service Subscriber Requirement: Constitutional Problems With Denying Equal Access To The Postal System, Elizabeth Gorman

University of Richmond Law Review

Second-class mail rates are available only to publications that distribute one- half or more of all circulated copies either to paying subscribers or to persons who have requested that the publication be sent to them. A publication that distributes more than half of its copies free of charge to persons who have not specifically requested copies must pay the higher third-class rate. As a result, the lower rate is denied to many community newspapers and to publications designed to win converts to a political cause or religious faith. This article argues that the Postal Service's unequal treatment of publications without …