Court Bars Free New-District Mailings for House Incumbents

A federal appeals court took a perk away from some House incumbents Thursday, barring them from sending free mail to residents who will become constituents due to redistricting.

“It is no different from a provision giving every incumbent $100,000 to hold campaign rallies in the new area,” Judge A. Raymond Randolph said.

The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a June 26 ruling by a U.S. District Court that said it was constitutional for House members to send free mail outside their districts.

Congressional watchdog groups and challengers for House seats called the mail privilege a subsidy for incumbents.

House lawyers defended the mailings, arguing that they encouraged incumbents to provide information to redistricted voters, whose current representatives may be less inclined to serve them.

The House already was moving to end the practice. The chamber voted 417 to 2 in June to stop the non-district mailings, but the provision, part of an appropriations bill, has not been enacted into law.

Randolph said the mailings are “not rationally related to the goal of informing citizens” because the practice “stems from the interest of a member as a candidate, not as a representative.”

He added that the practice “promotes the incumbent’s reelection, without enhancing his capacity to serve his constituents.”

Judge Laurence H. Silberman, who along with Randolph formed the majority, said it was necessary to give “heightened scrutiny” to any law that financially favors incumbents.

Judge Patricia Wald, who dissented, said the mailings were “unwise, perhaps, uneconomical, perhaps, but not unconstitutional.”