Opinion ID: 2622136
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mail

Text: ś 36 Athan argues he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the envelope he mailed to the law firm. He relies on Ex Parte Jackson, 96 U.S. 727, 733, 24 L.Ed. 877 (1877), and United States v. Van Leeuwen, 397 U.S. 249, 90 S.Ct. 1029, 25 L.Ed.2d 282 (1970) for the proposition that sealed letters and packages cannot be searched without a warrant. ś 37 The State argues, as it did in the state constitution claim, no violation exists because the detective who received the letter was named in the letterhead and thus, was an intended recipient of the envelope. The State distinguishes the cases relied on by Athan because here the SPD did not intercept and search the contents of a letter being sent to a third party. It is of no consequence that Athan did not know the intended recipient was a detective and not a lawyer, according to the State. ś 38 The Fourth Amendment protects a person's privacy interests in the contents of sealed letters and documents sent through the mail. See e.g., Van Leeuwen, 397 U.S. at 251, 90 S.Ct. 1029. However, a similar analysis from Athan's state constitution mail claim applies here. The detectives were listed on the envelope as the intended recipients; no interception of the letter while it was in transit to a third party occurred. There is no Fourth Amendment violation when, as here, the police open and analyze a sealed letter addressed to one or more of their detectives.