Supreme Court to review USPS race bias case and Minnesota gun law decision.
A case heading to the Supreme Court is raising big questions about what people can do if they believe they were treated unfairly by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). It started when Lebene Konan, a Black woman from Texas, said her local post office stopped delivering mail to two of her rental properties in the Dallas suburbs. She believes this happened because of her race. Konan owns the properties and also works as a realtor and insurance agent. She says her mail carrier and the local postmaster didn’t like the idea that she, as a Black woman, owned these homes. She also said the post office changed the lock on her P.O. box without explanation and then refused to deliver her mail for two or three months.
Konan decided to take legal action, saying this wasn’t just a delivery problem—it was discrimination. But the case quickly ran into a legal roadblock. There’s a law from 1946 that lets people sue the federal government if federal employees cause injury or damage through their actions. However, the law doesn’t allow lawsuits over issues related to lost or mishandled mail. This exception is what the government pointed to when asking the court to throw out Konan’s case. A judge in Texas agreed and dismissed it.
But that wasn’t the end. A higher court—the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans—saw things differently. That court said Konan’s case deserved to be heard, even with the mail-related exception in the law. Now, the federal government has asked the Supreme Court to step in and make a final decision. They argue that if the lower court’s ruling stands, it could cause a wave of lawsuits against the Postal Service. The government pointed out that the USPS handled over 116 billion pieces of mail in the last fiscal year. If every person who had a delivery problem filed a lawsuit claiming a postal worker acted with intent, they say it could overwhelm the system.
The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case in the fall and make a decision next year. The outcome could impact how future complaints against the USPS are handled—especially if those complaints involve accusations of discrimination.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court made another decision about gun laws. On the same day, the Court said it would not hear a case about a Minnesota law that banned people under the age of 21 from carrying handguns. A lower court had already ruled the law unconstitutional, saying it violated the Second Amendment and the 14th Amendment. The ruling was based on a view that young adults, even those aged 18 to 20, have the same right to carry firearms as older adults.
Minnesota asked the Supreme Court to review that ruling, saying the lower court didn’t properly consider a more recent Supreme Court decision that changed how judges are supposed to look at gun laws. That decision from 2022 said courts must look at history to see if similar laws existed in the past when deciding if current gun laws are allowed. But the 8th Circuit said Minnesota’s ban didn’t have enough of a historical match.
Though the Supreme Court passed on this case, the broader issue of gun rights for people under 21 is far from settled. Other states have similar laws, and different courts have made different rulings. The Supreme Court may have to return to this issue in the future. For now, the Minnesota law will stay blocked, and young adults in that state can still apply for permits to carry handguns.
Sources:
Supreme Court To Hear Case of Texas Woman Who Alleges Mail Carrier Refused Delivery Due to Her Race
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