DeVRIES v. ACREE

565 F.2d 577 J. H. DeVRIES and Peter R. Beyerinck, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Vernon D. ACREE, Commissioner of Customs, William E. Simon, Secretary of the Treasury, and U. S. Customs Service, Defendants-Appellees. No. 76-3238. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Nov. 30, 1977. Robert C. Vanderet (argued), Donald M. Wessling, Merrick J. Bobb, Kenneth M. Glazier and Fred Okrand, on the brief, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. Dzintra I. Janavs, Asst. U. S. Atty. (argued), William D. Keller, U.S. Atty., and Frederick M. Brosio, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., on the brief, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before HUFSTEDLER and KILKENNY, Circuit Judges, and GRANT, * District Judge. HUFSTEDLER, Circuit Judge: 1 The Government successfully contended in the district court that customs officers are statutorily and constitutionally entitled to open and to search first class letters from abroad without notice to or consent of the addressees and without any cause to suspect that such letters contain either contraband or dutiable merchandise. The sweeping power over international…