Private Correspondence and Federal Obscenity Prosecutions

The Congressional power to establish and regulate the mails is derived from article I, section 8, clause 7 of the Constitution which states simply that Congress shall have the power To establish Post Offices and post Roads. More than one thousand postal inspectors are employed to enforce the wide spectrum of laws, which have been enacted under this grant of power to assure the smooth and sage distribution of the mail. Through an analysis of legislative history, case history, and recent opinions of the Supreme Court, the writers will endeavor to support the proposition that private correspondence between consenting parties, whether obscene or not, is outside to scope of the obscenity statute