September 15, 2017

In the Matter of a Mail Dispute between

EAGLE FORUM and JOHN SCHLAFLY & BRUCE SCHLAFLY

P.S. Docket No. MD 17-13

APPEARANCE FOR DISPUTANT:
James P. Sanders, Esq.
Jessica Powers, Esq.

APPEARANCE FOR DISPUTANT:
Edward D. Greim, Esq.
Andrew A. Alexander, Esq.

INITIAL DECISION

The parties to this mail dispute each claim the right to direct delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum at two addresses: P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street, Suite 301, Alton, Illinois.  The parties also seek a declaration of their respective rights for access and control of P.O. Box 618.  As provided for by the Postal Operations Manual (POM) Section 616.21, the dispute has been referred to the Judicial Officer for a decision, and then assigned to me for an initial decision.  See 39 C.F.R. Part 965.  Immediately after the dispute was docketed, the Judicial Officer ordered the Alton, Illinois postmaster to hold all mail addressed to Eagle Forum at both P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street.  In February 2017, the parties agreed on a system for jointly collecting the mail addressed to both locations, and they have been following that system while they await a resolution of this dispute.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Phyllis Schlafly formed the Eagle Trust Fund (Eagle Trust) in 1967 to publish and distribute a newsletter, to do research on political science and national defense, to distribute educational materials, and to take other actions deemed necessary by the trustees (Schlafly, Exh. A).  That same year, Ms. Schlafly began leasing P.O. Box 618 in Alton, Illinois (Schlafly, Exh. B).
2. Phyllis Schlafly set up many additional organizations during her lifetime.¹  Most, if not all, of these organizations received mail addressed to “Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum” at P.O. Box 618, including:
   •   Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund (Schlafly, Exh. C at 7)
   •   Eagle Forum PAC (Schlafly, Exh. C at 7)
   •   Eagle Forum 501(c)(4) (Schlafly, Exh. D at 1, 2)
   •   Phyllis Schlafly Report (Schlafly, Exh. D at 2)
   •   Phyllis Schlafly’s American Eagles (Schlafly, Exh. D at 3)
   •   Eagle Trust Fund (Schlafly, Exh. D at 3)
3. Some of these organizations, as well as others, received mail addressed to their specific organization at P.O. Box 618, including:
   Republican National Coalition for Life (Schlafly, Exh. C at 8; Exh. D at 15)
   •   Eagle Trust Fund (Schlafly, Exh. D at 10)
   •   Phyllis Schlafly Eagles (Schlafly, Exh. D at 28)
4. Eagle Trust provides back-office management, bookkeeping, and mail services for the other organizations (Schlafly, Exh. U at ¶ 6).  Additionally, because of this complex web of organizations using the same mailing address, many of which have similar names, the organizations relied on Eagle Trust to sort the incoming mail and ensure that it was properly distributed to the correct organization (Schlafly, Exh. G; see also Schlafly brief at 8, 12).
5. The parties involved in this dispute are three of the many organizations started by Phyllis Schlafly:
   •   Eagle Trust, whose current trustees are two of Ms. Schlafly’s sons, John and Bruce Schlafly (Schlafly, Exh. U at ¶ 5).
   •   Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund, which was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1981 (Schlafly, Exh. O).
   •   Eagle Forum, a 501(c)(4) organization, whose current acting president is Eunie Smith (Eagle Forum, Exh. A at 8).
6. In this dispute, Eagle Trust and Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund are aligned against Eagle Forum over the right to direct mail addressed to Eagle Forum.  These parties are also at odds over access and control of P.O. Box 618.  (See Joint Statement of Issues in Dispute, June 19, 2017)
7. As of September 2016, Ed Martin was the President of Eagle Forum and John Schlafly was the Secretary (Eagle Forum, Exh. K).
8. In October 2016, the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Madison County, Illinois, issued an Order suspending Edward Martin and John Schlafly from their positions with Eagle Forum.  Both Mr. Martin and Mr. Schlafly were enjoined and restrained from conducting any business on behalf of Eagle Forum or holding themselves out as holding positions with Eagle Forum.  (Eagle Forum, Exh. A at 8).
9. The court then designated Eunie Smith as the Acting President of Eagle Forum and Anne Cori as the Acting Chairman of Eagle Forum (Eagle Forum, Exh. A at 8).
10. In the wake of the Third Judicial Circuit’s decision, Eagle Forum submitted a change of address request to the Alton postmaster asking that all mail addressed to 322 State Street be forwarded to Eagle Forum’s new place of business on West 3rd Street (Schlafly, Exh. C).  John and Bruce Schlafly opposed that request, leading to this dispute.

DECISION

Although the parties have several pending lawsuits against each other in state and federal court, they have identified two issues they want to resolve in this proceeding: (1) who has the right to access and control P.O. Box 618, and (2) how mail addressed to Eagle Forum at P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street should be delivered.  As discussed below, I am only authorized to resolve one of these issues.
The purpose of a mail dispute proceeding at the Judicial Officer Department is to determine which party controls the delivery of mail sent to a particular name and address, not who owns or controls a post office box.  Postal Operations Manual (POM) § 616; Webb and Webb, MD 17-53 (I.D. April 19, 2017)(citing Oriental Shriners and Civic Partners, Inc., MD 13-168 (P.S.D. September 11, 2013)).  Thus, although the parties have spent considerable time and effort addressing this question, I have no authority to decide who owns or controls P.O. Box 618.
As to the second issue, two key concepts must be considered in determining how mail addressed to Eagle Forum should be delivered.  First, as it applies to all mail disputes, the sender’s intent is paramount.  Webb and Webb, MD 17-53 (P.S.D. May 10, 2017).  Second, when a mail dispute concerns how mail to an organization should be delivered, the mail must be delivered under the order of the organization’s president or equivalent official.  Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) § 508.1.5.1; Seaman and Breunig, MD 16-215 (P.S.D. October 28, 2016).  Each of these factors is discussed below.
Sender’s intent
The record establishes that Mrs. Schlafly established many organizations before her death.  The record also establishes that until late 2016 or early 2017, those organizations all used both P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street to send and receive mail.  Sometimes the incoming mail was addressed to a specific organization, but more often it was simply addressed to “Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum.”  The parties agree that such mail addressed to Eagle Forum can actually be intended for any of Mrs. Schlafly’s organizations, including Eagle Trust, Eagle Forum, and Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund (Schlafly brief at 2, 8; Joint Status Report and Request for Extension, March 27, 2017; P.O. Box 618 Mail Handling Protocol, February 24, 2017).  Simply put, the sender’s intent often cannot be determined until after the mail is opened.  Thus both before and after this dispute arose, Mrs. Schlafly’s organizations developed a system to sort and distribute the incoming mail after it was opened—a system that apparently worked very well for many years, or at least until the relationship between the organizations soured in 2016.  Because of this complex organizational web, the sender’s intent for items addressed to Eagle Forum is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.  It thus becomes necessary to look elsewhere for the evidence necessary to decide how the mail should be delivered.  See e.g. Dwyer and Barlow, MD 04-82 (I.D. July 23, 2004).
President or equivalent official
Here, in light of the Illinois state court decision of October 2016, there is no dispute that Eunie Smith is currently the acting president of Eagle Forum, entitling her to direct delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum.  The Schlaflys try to complicate this straightforward analysis by arguing that Eagle Forum really means Eagle Trust or Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund.  They assert that the term Eagle Forum encompasses the entire Schlafly network, all of which falls under Eagle Trust.  They also assert—without any citation to the record—that Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund is often referred to as Eagle Forum (Schlafly brief at 7).
These arguments fail because the Domestic Mail Manual, which sets out the procedures for mail delivery by the Postal Service, provides that an addressee controls the delivery of its mail, and that in the absence of a contrary order the mail is delivered as addressed.  DMM § 508.1.1.1.  This provision, including the term addressee, must be interpreted by looking at its plain language and giving consideration to its terms in accordance with their common meaning.  Seaman and Breunig, MD 16-215 (citing Lockheed Corp. v. Widnall, 113 F.3d 1225, 1227 (Fed. Cir. 1997)).
Applying this standard to DMM § 508.1.1.1 leads to only one conclusion: Eagle Forum—and not Eagle Trust or Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund—should control delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum.  To allow either of those other two organizations to control delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum would conflict with the plain meaning of DMM § 508.1.1.1.
The other arguments put forth by the John and Bruce Schlafly fail for similar reasons.  For example, the fact that Eagle Trust is the oldest of Mrs. Schlafly’s organizations does not negate the fact that the disputed mail in this case is not addressed to Eagle Trust.  And while it is also true that Eagle Trust has traditionally received mail on behalf of many (if not all of) Mrs. Schlafly’s organizations, that too does not negate the fact that the disputed mail in this case is addressed to Eagle Forum, and not any of those other organizations.
The remainder of the John and Bruce Schlafly’s arguments are not relevant to the issues addressed in this decision.  Instead, as noted, the other arguments focus on control of and access to P.O. Box 618.  Thus, regardless of who has paid for the P.O. Box in the past, and regardless of who is currently paying for the P.O. Box, and even if Eagle Forum surrendered any claim to the P.O. Box, the fact remains that Eagle Forum is entitled to receive mail addressed to Eagle Forum.²

RECOMMENDATION

I recommend that the Judicial Officer issue an order to the Alton Postmaster directing that all mail being held, or hereafter received, addressed to Eagle Forum at both P. O. Box 618, Alton, Illinois, and 322 State Street, Suite 301, Alton, Illinois, be delivered as directed by Eunie Smith, the acting president of Eagle Forum.
This decision only addresses how mail addressed to Eagle Forum (or Eagle Forum, Attention: Phyllis Schlafly) at P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street, Alton, Illinois should be delivered by the Alton Postmaster.  All other mail addressed to other Schlafly organizations at either address should be delivered as addressed.
This decision does not resolve any other legal disputes between the parties.  Further, it does not decide who actually owns the contents of the disputed mail.  Hoeppner and Vollstedt, MD 08-251 (I.D. October 16, 2008).  Eagle Forum must continue to work with the other Schlafly organizations to ensure that mail addressed to Eagle Forum, but intended for one of the other organizations, is promptly forwarded to that organization.  Finally, if a future court order directs a different system for delivery of the mail, postal regulations provide that the mail will be delivered according to that order.  POM § 616.3.

Alan R. Caramella
Administrative Judge