Mailboxes are just for mail
By adamg - 7/18/09 - 10:27 am
Looks like a Flaherty volunteer in JP needs some education on what can go in mailboxes.
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Looks like a Flaherty volunteer in JP needs some education on what can go in mailboxes.
Comments
oh please! for starters, that's a mail slot not a mail box
perhaps they could have shoved it thru the doggy-door instead?
I hate junk mail, junk phone calls, junk faxes, spam, paid "cause" fundraisers who accost me on the street, and every other intrusion
but the only fault i can find here is with the weenie who's complaining.
Door slots are subject to the same regulations as mailboxes
"Residential Mailboxes
A residential mailbox is any curbside or wall-mounted receptacle which is used for the purpose of receiving material in which postage is paid.
Who Can Use A Mailbox
Only authorized letter carriers may place mail or packages into the mail receptacle. No part of the mail receptacle may be used to deliver anything that does not contain postage. This includes items attached to the box, hung from the box or inserted into the mail box. Any mailable material not displaying postage and found in the mailbox is subject to the same amount of postage as if it were carried by a mail carrier.
Exclusions from USPS Rules
Door slots and other non-lockable bins used with apartment mailboxes are subject to the same regulations as a curbside mailbox. Just keep in mind that a mail slot should be large enough to accommodate the type of mail the homeowner receives. If the mail slot is not large enough, then the mail carrier will cease delivering mail to the residence."
http://ezinearticles.com/?USPS-Mailbox-Requirements&id=1376519
oh come on
absent contemporaneous whining from the same source about..
pizza ads
thai food ads
weight loss ads
mortgage ads
flyers for lost dogs, kitties and llamas
... this stands out as nothing more than anti-candidate whining.
Pedantry aside, mail slot (and god forbid, mailBOX) incursions are a normal part of everyday life and have been for quite some time. get over it.
note: i don't really think much of the candidate but I hope he's allowed to communicate with voters, considering the incumbent is given ridiculous free access to other media to have himself heard.
Walk me through that?
IANAL, obviously... But I'm curious. How can the USPS have a regulation that governs what other people can do with things that only look like mailboxes?
I always assumed that the special restrictions on mailboxes came through something akin to:
* some sort of licensing power (the USPS grants manufacturers the right to stamp "U S MAIL" on mailbox doors; in exchange, the manufacturer attaches an end-user license to the mailbox restricting it to only USPS mail)
* restrictions on the sale of mailboxes (maybe you can't sell mailboxes other than the USPS-approved ones)
* market power (if you put up an unauthorized mailbox, we're not going to deliver your mail, so what's it gonna be, boy?)
But that wouldn't really hold for door slots; at their simplest, they're just a hole cut in the front door, and you can't regulate a hole. Plus, unlike with real mailboxes, the USPS can't play enforcement-by-nondelivery, because they don't have the key and they can't see what's "inside".
So where could the USPS derive the ability to regulate door slots?
IANALEBIIRC,
there's US law concerning postal service, in addition to USPS regulations.
I make a point not to mess with the USPS. Quoting Office Space:
wrong
"Door slots and other non-lockable bins used with apartment mailboxes are subject to the same regulations as a curbside mailbox."
Hey, here's a protip for you. Cite the people in government, not the people who write 'ezine articles'.
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:Bb8q3DSIwhEJ:www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt%3FGGD-97-85+US+MAIL+mailbox+use&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Page 6, you'll see that anyone can put whatever they want in a door slot.
This doesn't apply to door openings
There actually was a court case about this 70+ years ago.
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:Bb8q3DSIwhEJ:www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt%3FGGD-97-85+US+MAIL+mailbox+use&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Start reading around page 5-6. Page 6 contains gems, including the numerous exceptions.
I'm reasonably certain that if you have two mailboxes, one marked "US MAIL" and the other not, that people can put whatever they want in the one not marked US Mail.
Yeah, I dealt with this
As the priests say, It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Mailslot not the same as mailbox
The first comment on here is right. I've been on more campaigns than I care to recall and been briefed by more lawyers on electioneering rules, regulations, and laws (on the local, state and national level). You can put non USPS things through a mail slot. I wouldn't recommend putting them halfway through the slot though, since that's just...well, trashy looking.
I'd rather have them put in
I'd rather have them put in the door slot than dropped on the steps or tucked into the screen door. Just keep them out of my mailbox.
Flaherty volunteers just do
Flaherty volunteers just do whatever is easiest for them. They came thru my West Roxbury neighborhood a couple weeks back and just put the flyer on each house's walk or step next to the sidewalk. Apparently too much for an effort to walk up the walk to the porches or even put the flyers under a rock.
Some homeowners didn't pick them up (maybe they weren't home, maybe they didn't want to pick up after Flaherty), so we had "Flaherty confetti" flying around for a couple days until the rain plastered all the flyers down.