An unusual amount of interest has been generated in the recent decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court. Many citizens have been, or should be, prompted to express their opinions to the Chief Justice and Associate Justices. The Court doesn’t exactly make it easy, as they don’t make their email addresses public. So it’s time to send a good old-fashioned letter, and Etiquetteer is here to tell you how to do so with Perfect Propriety.
First, you’ll find the mailing address on the Court’s “Contact Us” web page. (They at least have that.) Correspondence to the Chief Justice should be addressed thus:
The Chief Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
[Insert Address Here]
Please note that the Chief Justice is not addressed in correspondence by his given name because there is only one Chief Justice at a time. (The same is true for the President and Vice President of the United States). The correct salutation is “Dear Mr. Chief Justice.”
Correspondence to individual Associate Justices should be addressed thus:
Associate Justice [Insert Last Name Only Here]
Supreme Court of the United States
[Insert Address Here]
The correct salutation may be either “Dear Justice” or “Dear Justice [Last Name].”
Now, let’s say you want all nine Justices to know what you have to say. For the sake of simplicity, Etiquetteer thinks it better to address your letter to the Justice who wrote the majority opinion of the case in question, and cc: the other Justices. Cc:s always go underneath your signature. So, for instance:
Associate Justice Portia Vergogna
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543
[Date]
Dear Justice Vergogna:
Your opinion in the case of [Insert Case Here] prompts me to write to you because . . . [Insert Your Opinions Here].
Yours sincerely,
[Signature]
[Insert Your Name Here]
cc: The Chief Justice
Justice [Name 1]
Justice [Name 2]
Justice [Name 3]
Justice [Name 4]
Justice [Name 5]
Justice [Name 6]
Justice [Name 7]
Etiquetteer has a few suggestions about writing an effective letter:
Threats of death and physical violence are not just Not Perfectly Proper, they are Bad and Very Very Wrong. Do not include.
Decide what your purpose is in writing your letter: to express your anger, to to make a compelling case for your argument. If the former, well . . . Etiquetteer doesn’t want to invalidate your feelings, but the latter approach is much more likely to get serious attention.
President Lincoln’s advice to write the angry letter and then not send it is still a wonderful exercise.
Be sure that the facts you include in your letter are actually true, preferably through more than one news source.
Check for typographical errors before sending. More than one correspondent has been defeated by an embarrassing misspelling.
Etiquetteer wishes you brisk, businesslike and effective correspondence in all your business.