TO S T A T. ]
Public Law 821
PUBLIC L(AW 821-JULY 27, 1956
CHAPTER 755
AN ACT To authorize the Postmaster General to hold and detain mail for temporary periods in certain cases.
July 27, 1956 [H. R. 9842]—
Be it enacted I>y the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) whenever Ee"t*ent i7n*'*'of the Postmaster General shall determine during proceedings before mailhim that in the administration of the Act of August 16, 1950 (39 U.S.C. 259a), such action is necessary to the eflfective enforcement 64 Stat. 4 5 1. of such Act, he may enter an interim order directing that mail addressed to any person be held and detained by the postmaster at the post office of delivery for a period of twenty days from the Note of effective date of such order. Notice of such order, advising such tentioni corder. de* person of the holding and detention and setting forth in specific detail the reasons therefor, together with a copy of this Act, and the aforesaid Act of August 16, 1950, shall be sent forthwith by registered or certified mail to such person at the post office at which such mail is to be held and detained. Any such order for the holding Expiration date, and detention of mail addressed to any person shall expire at the end of the twenty days after the issuance thereof unless the Postmaster General shall file, prior to the expiration of such twenty-day period, a petition in the United States district court for the district cdLrt!****^*^"**" "' in which the post office in which such mail is held or detained is situated, and obtain an order directing that mail addressed to such person be held and detained for such further period as the court shall determine. Notice of the filing of any such petition shall be given forthwith by the clerk of the court in which such petition is filed to such person, at the post office at which the mail is being detained (or otherwise as the clerk of the court shall determine to be appropriate), and such person shall have five days in which to appear and show cause why such order should not issue. If, upon all the evidence before it, the court shall determine that the continued withholding and detention of mail addressed to such person is reasonable and necessary to the effective enforcement of the Act of August 16, 1950, it shall forthwith issue an order directing that mail addressed to such person be held and detained by the postmaster at the office of delivery until conclusion of the proceeding by the Postmaster General or until further order of the court. If the court shall determine, upon all the evidence before it, that the continued withholding and detention of mail addressed to such person is not reasonable or necessary in the administration of such Act, it shall dismiss the petition and order all mail addressed to such person held or detained in any post office to be released forthwith for delivery. An appeal from the order of the court shall be allowed as in civil causes. Any Dissolution of order of the Postmaster General or of the district court, under this Act, may be dissolved by such court at any time for cause, including failure to conduct expeditiously the proceedings instituted against such person before the Postmaster General with respect to the Act of August 16, 1950 (39 U.S.C. 259a). When, under any order herein to^elaminl m^i?" authorized to be issued by the Postmaster General or the district court, a person's mail is detained and held by the postmaster at the office of delivery, such person shall have the right to examine said mail and receive such mail as clearly is not connected with the alleged unlawful activity. (b) As used in this Act the term "person" means any individual, firm, corporation, company, partnership, or association.
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