Court Opinion

ID: 9428461
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:23:54.24642+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:13.537517
License: Public Domain

Justice White,
concurring in the judgment.
There is no doubt that the postal system is a massive, Government-operated communications facility open to all forms of written expression protected by the First Amendment. No one questions, however, that the Government, the operator of the system, may impose a fee on those who would use the system, even though the user fee measurably reduces the ability of various persons or organizations to communicate with others. Appellees do not argue that they may use the mail for home delivery free of charge. A self-evident justification for postage is that the Government may insist that those who use the mails contribute to the expense of maintaining and operating the facility.
No different answer is required in this case because appel-lees do not insist on free home delivery and desire to use only a part of the system, the mailbox. The Government’s interest in defraying its operating expenses remains, and it is clear *142that stuffing the mailbox with unstamped materials is a burden on the system.
This justification would suffice even in those situations where insisting on the fee will totally prevent the putative user from communicating with his intended correspondents, i. e., there would be no adequate alternative means available to reach the intended recipients. For this reason, if for no other, I do not find it appropriate to inquire whether the restriction at issue here is a reasonable time, place or manner regulation. Besides that, however, it is apparent that the validity of user fees does not necessarily depend on satisfying typical time, place or manner requirements.
Equally bootless is the inquiry whether the postal system is a public forum. For all who will pay the fee, it obviously is, and the only question is whether a user fee may be charged, as a general proposition and in the circumstances of this case. Because I am quite sure that the fee is a valid charge, I concur in the judgment.