Detention of mail for temporary periods

§ 4007. Detention of mail for temporary periods (a) When the Postmaster General determines during proceedings before him that in the administration of section 4006 of this title such action is necessary to the effective enforcement of the section, he may enter an interim order directing that mail addressed to any person be detained by the postmaster at the post office of delivery for twenty days from the effective date of the order. Notice of the order, advising the person of the detention and setting forth in specific detail the reasons therefor, together with a copy of this section and section 4006 of this title, shall be sent forthwith by registered or certified mail to the person at the post office at which the mail is to be detained. An order for the detention of mail addressed to a person expires at the end of the twenty days after the issuance thereof unless the Postmaster General files, prior to the expiration of the twenty-day period, a petition in the United States district court for the district in which the post office in which the mail is detained is situated, and obtains an order directing that mail addressed to the person be detained for such further period as the court determines. Notice of the filing of such a petition shall be given forthwith by the clerk of the court in which it is filed to the person, at the post office at which the mail is being detained, or otherwise as the clerk of the court deter- 74 Stat. 656 mines to be appropriate, and the person shall have five days in which to appear and show cause why the order should not issue. If, upon all the evidence before it, the court determines that the continued detention of the mail is reasonable and necessary to the effective enforcement of section 4006 of this title, it shall forthwith issue an order directing that mail addressed to that person be 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, upon all the evidence before it, the court determines, that the continued detention of the mail addressed is not reasonable or necessary in the administration of section 4006 of this title, it shall dismiss the petition and order all detained mail addressed to him to be released forthwith for delivery. An appeal from the order of the court is allowable as in civil causes. An order of the Postmaster General or of the district court, under this section, may be dissolved by that court at any time for cause, including failure to conduct expeditiously the proceedings instituted against the person before the Postmaster General with respect to section 4006 of this title. When, under an order herein authorized to be issued by the Postmaster General or the district court, a person’s mail is detained by the postmaster at the office of delivery, that person may examine the mail and receive such mail as clearly is not connected with the alleged unlawful activity. (b) Action by the Postmaster General in issuing the interim order provided for herein and petitioning for a continuance of an order under this section, is not subject to chapter 19 of title 5. (c) This section does not apply to mail addressed to publishers of publications which have entry as second-class matter, or to mail addressed to the agents of those publishers.