George Deukmejian, Attorney General of the State of California v. United States Postal Service

The California Attorney General appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of the United States Postal Service. The district court held that the Postal Service properly denied the Attorney General’s application to mail class action cash refund notices at special third class bulk mailing rates. We affirm.

In 1980, the Attorney General and Levi Strauss & Co. settled an antitrust class action for $12.25 million. The AG concluded that direct mailings would be the most effective way to notify the class. To lower the cost of mailing, he applied to the Postal Service for special third class bulk rates under the “philanthropic organization" classification in Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) § 623.234.

The Los Angeles Mail Classification Center rejected the application, stating that the AG (a) was ineligible under DMM § 623.4 and (b) failed to meet the standard of “primary purpose” for a non-profit, philanthropic organization as prescribed by DMM §§ 623.22 and 623.234. The AG’s appeal to the Division of Mail Classification in Washington, D.C. was denied in a “final agency decision” in accordance with DMM § 642.3. The AG petitioned the Los Angeles Mail Classification Center for…