Thomas, J., dissenting
service packet must be “addressed and dispatched by the clerk of the court to the Secretary of State in Washington, District of Columbia, to the attention of the Director of Special Consular Services.” §1608(a)(4) (emphasis added); see 22 CFR §93.1(c) (State Department regulation governing service under this provision). Unlike §1608(a)(3), this provision specifies both the person to be served and the location of service. While not dispositive, the absence of a similar limitation in §1608(a)(3) undermines the categorical rule adopted by the Court.
The Court offers three additional arguments in support of its position, but none justifies its bright-line rule.
First, the Court offers a series of hypotheticals to suggest that the term “dispatched” not only contemplates a prompt shipment, but also connotes sending the letter directly to a place where the person is likely to be physically located. Ante, at 7–8. In my opinion, these hypotheticals are inapt. The unique role of an embassy in facilitating communications between sovereign governments does not have an analog in the hypotheticals offered by the majority.[1] And to the extent the statute emphasizes speed and directness, as the majority suggests, dispatching a letter to a Washington-based embassy with a direct line of communication to the foreign minister—including the ability to communicate electronically—seems at least as efficient as dispatching the letter across the globe to a foreign country, particularly if that country has recently
- ↑ To the extent the relationship between a U. S. Attorney’s office and the Attorney General is analogous, the majority correctly acknowledges that the office would “very probably forward” a letter directed to the attention of the Attorney General. Ante, at 8. The majority nevertheless believes that it would be improper or unusual to dispatch that letter to a local U. S. Attorney’s office. I disagree. It seems entirely likely that a person residing in the District of Idaho would dispatch a letter to the Attorney General through the U. S. Attorney’s office serving his District—even if it would be odd for a resident of the District of Columbia to use that Idaho address.
