WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today sharply criticized a last-minute attempted power grab by the U.S. Customs Service, which is seeking legislative authority to open mail going out of the country without a warrant. 

In a letter delivered today to the entire House of Representatives, ACLU Legislative Counsel Gregory T. Nojeim said that the proposed legislation would be contrary to the intent of the Fourth Amendment and would overturn more than a century of protecting the privacy of the U.S. mail. 

"This effort represents a blatant assault on personal privacy at a time when Americans' concerns about privacy have never been higher," Nojeim said.