Aid Association for Lutherans v. United States Postal Service

Argued February 13, 2003 The 1990 amendment to the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 (""PRA"") bars the use of the reduced nonprofit third-class postage rate for mailings promoting any insurance policy if ""the coverage provided by the policy"" is ""generally otherwise commercially available."" 39U.S.C. § 3626(j)(1)(B). In 1992, appellant United States Postal Service (""Postal Service"" or ""USPS"") issued regulations construing this statutory language to bar the use of the reduced rate for mailings promoting insurance of a general type (e.g., life, automobile, health) that is commercially available. See 57 Fed. Reg. 28,464, 28,466 (June 25, 1992). Under the regulations, the Postal Service decided that appellees Aid Association for Lutherans (""AAL"") and American Bar Endowment (""ABE""), both nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations that offer insurance policies to their members and are eligible for the nonprofit postage rate, were no longer entitled to mail their insurance-related material at the nonprofit rate to the extent that the insurance offered was of a general type that is otherwise commercially available. Appellees filed separate law suits in the District Court, alleging that the Postal Service exceeded its statutory authority in promulgating the cited regulations. The District Court granted judgment for appellees, finding that the regulations ""constitute an impermissible reading of the statute."" Aid Ass'n for Lutherans v. USPS, No. 96-2694, Mem. Op. at 13(D.D.C. Sept. 13, 2001) (""AAL Mem. Op.""), reprinted in Joint Appendix (""JA"") 157, 169; Am. Bar. Endowment v. USPS, No. 97-660, Mem. Op. at 6 (D.D.C. Sept. 17, 2001) (""ABE Mem. Op."") (finding the ""identical analysis"" to apply), reprinted in JA 384, 389. The District Court ordered the postage refund amounts due to AAL and ABE and entered final judgment in these cases on January 13, 2003 and February 12, 2003. See AAL v. USPS, Order (D.D.C. Jan. 13, 2003); ABE v. USPS, Order (D.D.C. Feb. 12, 2003).