# US Supreme Court rules that Americans can't sue Postal Service for intentionally not delivering the mail **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 25, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960 "2026-02-25T16:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/1 "2026-02-25T16:32:13Z")
A woman sued the Postal Service because two of its employees were deliberately withholding mail from her because they didn’t like that she’s Black and owns multiple properties. The Supreme Court struck down her case, 5-4. > **[Supreme Court rules the Postal Service can't be sued, even when mail is...](https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-postal-service-missing-mail-7ce97a5b7d56373cdeaa6ecc9a9132f5)** > > A divided Supreme Court has ruled that Americans can’t sue the U.S. Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver mail. Pay attention to this one. If the USPS deliberately doesn’t mail you your mail-in ballot because you’re a suspected Democrat, you have no legal recourse. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/2 "2026-02-25T18:05:46Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > If the USPS deliberately doesn’t mail you your mail-in ballot because you’re a suspected Democrat, you have no legal recourse. And it’s not even the corporate body of the USPS that has to be the problem. From the story: > She did so, the documents say, but the mail problems continued, **despite the USPS inspector general instructing the mail to be delivered**. The management of the USPS apparently didn’t even have the power to rein in a couple of rogue racist employees, who made the decision to stop delivering all on their own, and even resisted push back from their own bosses. So _any_ employee, anywhere along the line could make this decision, and you’re left without any options. The local mail carrier sees the “Democrats 2028” sign on your lawn? Ooops, no mail for you, go take it up with the inspector general that I’m going to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/3 "2026-02-25T20:26:53Z")
From the AP article: > Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a majority of five conservative justices, said the federal law that generally shields the Postal Service from lawsuits over missing, lost and undelivered mail includes “the intentional nondelivery of mail.” Such was the opinion written by the least qualified justice ever to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and that’s an incredibly low bar, considering the recent appointment of a drunkard rapist, who concurred. That’s right, Clarence, an innocent person who accidentally causes an accident that results in damage is **exactly equivalent** to a terrorist saboteur. What’s the difference, really? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/4 "2026-02-25T21:39:21Z")
This is absolutely bizarre. So the actual Supreme Court has ruled that if you’re black, you have no right to get any service from the United States Postal Service. At all. No mail for you. What kind of precedent is this? There is a bright line from here to the denial of ANY government service to people, based on the color of their skin. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/5 "2026-02-25T21:45:00Z")
This is the worst fucking Supreme Court ever. They _never_ think about the horrifying precedent they’re setting. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/6 "2026-02-25T21:46:55Z")
Oh, yes, they do. They are achieving the objectives of the Federalist Society and Project 2025. It’s what they were put there to do. They know _exactly_ what they are doing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/7 "2026-02-26T17:12:37Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This is absolutely bizarre. So the actual Supreme Court has ruled that if you’re black, you have no right to get any service from the United States Postal Service. At all. > > No mail for you. > > What kind of precedent is this? There is a bright line from here to the denial of ANY government service to people, based on the color of their skin. I don’t think this is just a race issue. I think the precedent they were going for is that a government official can’t be held accountable for any abuse of power. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/8 "2026-02-26T17:58:18Z")
The easiest and fastest remedy might be to change the law in question? (Not saying doing so is easy or fast in of itself; I mean in a relative sense.) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/9 "2026-03-05T03:22:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > government official ca The postal service is a business, not a government office. It is a business owned by the executive branch. Their employees are not technically government officials. I acknowledge that this boundary is hopped on the regular, and in myriad ways, but it still remains true. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-supreme-court-rules-that-americans-cant-sue-postal-service-for-intentionally-not-delivering-the-mail/1027960/10 "2026-04-03T03:45:50Z")
A terrible, terrible decision. Or, just another day at the Supreme Court c. 2026.