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United States Postal Service Declares Postmarks Could Be Delayed
Loaded on Feb. 1, 2026
published in Prison Legal News
February, 2026, page 62
Filed under:
Mail Regulations,
Due Process,
Legal Mail,
Access To Courts.
Location:
United States of America.
On December 24, 2025, the United States Postal Service (USPS) rolled out a new practice regarding how mail is tracked and dated. While for more than 70 years a postmark has been a reliable way of proving when an individual met a deadline for filing items such as a …
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More from this issue:
- Most U.S. Prisoners Now Barred from Directly Receiving Physical Mail, by Chuck Sharman
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Barbaric and Deadly Conditions Continue to Plague Los Angeles County Jails, by Douglas Ankney
- New Hampshire Prison System Struggles to Hire Guards
- Washington County Pays $300,000 to Jail Detainee Denied Treatment for Kidney Stone, by Chuck Sharman
- Michigan Claws Back $1.2 Million Paid to Wrongfully Convicted Former Prisoner, by Chuck Sharman
- Dissenter Excoriates SCOTUS for Denying Certiorari in Challenge to Constitutionality of Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution, by Matthew Clarke
- Report: Incarcerated Population in Rural Jails and Prisons At Risk of Losing Hospital Access, by Michael Thompson
- Three Prisoners Killed in Fight at Georgia Prison
- $450,000 Paid for Michigan Jail Detainee’s Fentanyl Death, Incarcerated Husband Prevails in Claim for Part of Payout, by Chuck Sharman
- North Carolina Parole Commission Agrees to Stop “Moving Goalposts” for Prisoners Who Committed Crime as Juveniles, by Chuck Sharman
- Escape from Georgia Jail Ends in Florida after Lyft Hijacking, by Jo Ellen Nott
- FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations, by Michael Thompson
- Half of South Dakota’s Prison Population Returns to Prison
- D.C. Federal Court Holds Blocking Prison Reform Advocate’s Access to Federal Prisoners May Violate First Amendment and Due Process, by Matthew Clarke
- $2 Million Settlement Reached for 12-Year-Old’s Gang Rape in Detroit Juvenile Detention Center, by Chuck Sharman
- The St. Louis Jails Are Running Out of Guards, by Ivy Scott
- Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, by Anthony Accurso
- Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations, by Douglas Ankney
- California Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Ripped Off Prisoner, by Michael Thompson
- Alaska Deaths in Custody Tie Record High
- Los Angeles County Restricts Opioid Treatment, by Michael Thompson
- Federal Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Are Facing Retaliation by Trump, by Michael Thompson
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Estate Cannot Sue Jailers Who Followed Medical Personnel Advice That Led to Detainee’s Death, by Matthew Clarke
- Cuyahoga County Receives Over $846,000 Refund from Securus Technologies
- HRDC Sues Minnesota DOC Over Censorship Policy, by Robert Haughn
- Sixth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Failure to Properly Classify Violent Prisoners at Kentucky Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Competency Crisis in Missouri’s Jails, by Douglas Ankney
- Alabama and Wexford Health Pay Undisclosed Settlement for Delays Costing Prisoner Partial Foot Amputation, by Chuck Sharman
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Alabama County May Be Liable for Policy of Providing Inadequate Jail Medical Care, by Matthew Clarke
- Punished for Bleeding: How Periods in Prison Become a Trap, by Candace Norwood
- Tenth Circuit Reverses Summary Dismissal of Claim Over Prisoner’s Suicide in Oklahoma Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit: Notice of Appeal of Order Denying Qualified Immunity Must Be Filed Within 30 Days of Entry, by Douglas Ankney
- Two Mississippi Prisons Lose Power During Winter Storm
- Deportation of Kenyan Priest Working as Texas Prison Guard Highlights TDCJ’s Dependence on Immigrant Staff, by Matthew Clarke
- Delaware Settles Suit Over Depriving Young Prisoners of Special Education, by Chuck Sharman
- Differing Judicial Outcomes for the New York Guards Who Killed Robert Brooks, by Jo Ellen Nott
- New York State Prisons Turning Away Visitors with Tampons After Scan
- Georgia Grand Jury Dings Augusta Jail for Overcrowding Days Before Violent Detainee Assault, by Chuck Sharman
- Ninth Circuit Reinstates Wheelchair-Bound Washington State Prisoner’s Suit Over Failure to Accommodate Disabilities During Transport, by Matthew Clarke
- Oklahoma Prisoner Who Escaped Through Hole Killed by Sheriff
- After Exposing Prison Horrors, Incarcerated Whistleblowers Are Moved to Solitary, by Katie Rose Quandt
- Amid ‘Catastrophic’ Shortage, Psychologists Flee Federal Prisons in Droves, by Beth Schwartzapfel
- County Jail in Oklahoma Accused of Coercing Detainees to Convert to Christianity
- Federal Court Strikes Much of Virginia’s Felony Voting Restriction, by Chuck Sharman
- Arkansas Bans Outside Reading Material Sent to Prisons, by Jo Ellen Nott
- The New York Prison System’s Culture of Cruelty and Impunity, by Michael Thompson
- Report on Baltimore Jail Reveals Human Waste Dripped from Ceilings
- Pennsylvania County Renews $8 Million Contract with PrimeCare Despite Settlements
- “Critical Labor Shortage” Declared at Two Rural Prisons in Nevada
- Idaho Prisons Are Full. Costs for Incarcerating Inmates in Jails and Out of State Are Skyrocketing, by Laura Guido
- California Oversight Agency Hasn’t Finished a Single Review of Jail Deaths
- Missouri Prisoners Forced to Shovel Snow in Subzero Temperatures
- New York State Moves to Dismiss Hundreds of Prison Sexual Assault Lawsuits, by Jo Ellen Nott
- United States Postal Service Declares Postmarks Could Be Delayed
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- Ninth Circuit Revives HRDC Challenge to Washington DOC Mail Restrictions, Aug. 1, 2026. Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment, rights.
- California Supreme Court Limits Money Bail for Nonviolent Charges, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Due Process, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Pretrial Detention and Detainees.
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026. Disciplinary Hearings, Due Process, Procedural Default/Error, Evidence - Admissibility, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- Eighth Circuit Revives Prisoner Lawsuit over Conditions of Confinement, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Due Process, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Prisoners' Rights, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Illinois Jail Reprimanded for Denying Detainees Mail Based on Media Content, P.O. Box Return Address, Settles Detainees’ Suit with $111,825 Payment of Legal Fees, May 1, 2026. Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Censorship, First Amendment, rights, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- Federal Court Grants HRDC Preliminary Injunction Against Mail Censorship at New Mexico Jail, May 1, 2026. Injunctions, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, HRDC Litigation.
- HRDC Sues Colorado Jail for Prohibiting Dozens of Magazines and Books, May 1, 2026. Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, Constitution, state, HRDC Litigation.
- ICE Settles Suit Over Opening Detainees’ Legal Mail, April 1, 2026. Legal Mail, Attorney Visits, First Amendment, rights, Immigration Detention, Attorney/Client.
- Like Prisoners, Most Jail Detainees Now Banned from Receiving Physical Mail, March 1, 2026. Jail Specific, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail, Censorship, Digital Devices, Private Phone Contractors.
- Eighth Circuit Rules Iowa Prisoner’s Adverse Summary Judgment Is Not a “Strike”, March 1, 2026. Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA), Summary Judgment, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Access To Courts.

