You have probably seen the mass mailings. They might have "Social Security Alert" or similar words splashed across the envelope, perhaps even in red letters. They are obviously designed to look like some kind of official mailing from the government—but they are not. They may be requests for donations, or solicitations for membership in a non-profit organization. The problem is, the mailings may also violate federal law.

One such mailing was sent out beginning in 1996 by United Seniors Association, Inc., a Virginia-based non-profit that touts its affiliations with Art Linkletter. Over 500,000 "Social Security Alerts" were sent out by the organization, targeted directly at seniors. The envelopes even had phony tracking numbers, and included (in big, bold letters) "—Urgent—Social Security Information Enclosed." They were clearly intended to create a sense of urgency, and they looked enough like official government documents that recipients could easily be confused.

The Social Security law prohibits advertisers from using terms like "Social Security," "Medicare," Medicaid," "Death Benefits Update," or other terms in any way that would convey the false impression that the Social Security Administration endorses or authorizes the advertisement. The law specifically refers to any "advertisement, solicitation, circular, book, pamphlet or other communication." United Seniors argued that the phrase "or other communication" did not include envelopes at all, and that they had violated no law.

The Social Security Administration disagreed. It fined United Seniors $1 for each offending envelope—a total of $554,196. The non-profit appealed, but the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the fine. United Seniors also argued that the government should look at the entire mailing—envelope and contents together—before determining whether the mailing was misleading, but the appellate court agreed with the government that the envelopes communicated their own message. (You can look at the envelopes online at the Fourth Circuit's website and see if you think they are misleading.) 

The Court of Appeals opinion reveals but does not comment on one of several ironies of the United Seniors case. Although United Seniors is a non-profit organization, in 2002 (the year after the fine was first levied against it), the conservative advocacy organization earned almost $25 million from memberships and donations—and posted a profit of just less than the amount of the fine.

Meanwhile, United Seniors’ website continues to tout Art Linkletter’s appearances on conservative talk shows, and to solicit memberships with an opportunity to join a "quarterly private conference call" with the television star—not to mention a picture of Mr. Linkletter—for those who join at the $100/year level. No mention is made of the Social Security fine.

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