LHO and the Cunningham Amendment

During the 1950s, the PO and Customs renewed the tradition of being self-appointed censors, routinely confiscating foreign mail deemed to be Communist propaganda.

There was no express statutory authority for this, and any legal/constitutional basis for it was never tested in the courts.

Kennedy ordered the practice terminated in March 1961 -- a move countered by Congress which passed a law on Oct 11 1962 - The Cunningham Amendment to the Postal Rates Bill. It did not take effect however, until Jan 7, 1963.

The amendment required all overseas material (other than sealed letters) deemed to be Communist propaganda to be held for 20 days during which time the addressee would be notified of such mail and that it would be delivered only after the addressee's express consent was given. This consent only had to be given once; thereafter all such material would be forwarded.

The passing of the law came 2 days after Oswald rented a PO Box for the delivery of this very kind of material.

However, Oswald waited until Jan of the following year before making any subscriptions - and it was January (7) that the law came into effect. Note that whilst he had subscribed to Krokadil in Sept, '62 - prior to the amendment passing, this doesn't count. Krokodil was exempted from the law as it was made available through the cultural exchange program.

In January or February, Postal Inspectors* visit Oswald's last known address (Mercades). However, he had already moved out.

Soon after, PO Form 2153-X is left in Lee's PO box for him to complete and return advising whether or not he wishes to receive the Russian publications. Oswald completes and returns form, adding "I protest this intimidation".

The law was repealed in 1965 thanks to Corliss Lamont who had begun legal action in 1963 after refusing to return form 2153-X. In the intervening period, the PO kept lists of all those receiving this type of literature.

In short, what we see here is Oswald making preparations in Oct '62 - when the Cunningham Amendment was passed - for recieving the material all but proscribed in the Amendment. We then see him begin to receive that material just as the law passes into effect - thus ensuring he is on the PO list of subversives - and morever guaranteeing he will stand out via his note of protest added to the form.

* The Church Committee found evidence of FBI agents posing as Postal Inspectors. That possibility cannot be ruled out here.

Experiencing full system crash. Worms/trojans eating & exploiting previous defenses. No sensitive data was available; historical collection was in duplicate beforehand. Occurred evening 11/7; 4th attack of 2010, 2nd in 2 weeks.

Will require altering future password; perhaps e-mail server & address change. Cannot depend on e-confidentiality, cannot reply. Regrets only. Will contact after corrections made.

Strong hunch OOgurizangalf. Thes people ask questions later. This message will self-destruct ASAP

Sorry to hear that, Richard. Hope you get it all under control. It's never much fun...

Have begun uploading some of those audio files (finally) have had to priortise other stuff first because of deadlines (NID stuff).

Let me know when all is okay.

Roger

Your site is loading slow on this library computer

Have narrowed hacker's coordinates

It's a he

merely following "orders";

Queries off & awaiting response

Thanks

A Timeline around Oswald's receipt of foreign propaganda 

March 1961: JFK orders PO and Customs to cease withholding foreign mail deemed to be Communist propaganda.

August 10, 1962: Lee and Marina move to 2703 Mercades St, Fort Worth.

October, 1962: Marina moves in with Elana Hall. Lee moves to YMCA in Dallas.

October 9, 1962: Lee rents PO box.

October 10, 1962: Lee fills out change of mail address form giving new PO box as address.

October 11, 1962: The Cunningham amendment to the Postal Bill. 

October 12, 1962: Lee starts work at JCS.

November 4, 1962: Oswalds move to Elspeth St, Dallas

January 7, 1963: New law (Cunningham Amendment) finally takes affect after several delays. It requires PO to hold foreign Communist propaganda for 20 days while addressee completes and returns form confirming they want the material forwarded to them.


January ? 1963: Oswald subscribes to 3 Russian publications. (CE 1117)


January, 1963: Publications posted triggering PO action per new law.

January, 1963: PO inspector visits last known address for Oswald in relation to Russian newspapers. Last known address by PO would be Mercades.

January, 1963: PO Form 2153-X is left in Lee's PO box for him to complete and return advising whether or not he wishes to receive the Russian publications. Oswald completes and returns form, adding "I protest this intimidation".

April, 1963: Corliss Lamont launches legal action challenging the new law.

1965: The law is found by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional and is repealed.

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It is not the only instance where timing of Oswald mail coincides with actions of others.

His ordering of weapons via mail coincides with the Dodd subcommittee investigation of that very thing. Moreover, the choice of weapons and companies from which to purchase said weapons coincides with the very weapons and companies of interest to that subcommittee.

Then on May 26, he writes the FPCC requesting a charter and follows that up with a series of letters and actions which link the FPCC to the CPUSA and SWP, and "exposes" his past as a "defector".

The timing coincidence here is that on May 16 and May 20, the FBI received information from informants that the FPCC had cleansed itself of CP and SWP influence. Oswald's actions then, coming on the heels of the FPCC getting a clean bill of health, can be seen as an attempt to reestablish the SWP-CP-FPCC ménage à trois, if only through a paper trail.