Cite as: 534 U. S. 161 (2002)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
The Government would assign to Dusenbery the burden of showing that the mail delivery system inside the prison was unreliable at the relevant time. Brief for United States 23-24. The Court shies away from explicit agreement, for that is not what Mullane instructs. Rather, the party obliged to give notice—here, the Government—must adopt a method "reasonably calculated" to reach the intended recipient. See 339 U. S., at 318; One Toshiba Color Television, 213 F. 3d, at 155 (If the Government "chooses to rely on less than actual notice, it bears the burden of demonstrating the existence of procedures that are reasonably calculated to ensure that [actual] notice will be given."). The Government, staying "within the limits of practicability," Mullane, 339 U. S., at 318, now conforms to the foundational precedent; its prior practice fell short of the requirement that "[t]he means employed must be such as one desirous of actually informing the absentee might reasonably adopt to accomplish it," id., at 315.4
The majority is surely correct that the Due Process Clause does not require "heroic efforts" to ensure actual notice.
receipt." Ante, at 172. The signature procedure now in place offers the FBI the same security that motivates any other postal customer to pay a surcharge for certified mail, return receipt requested: A sender who knows whether delivery to the addressee was accomplished can try again if the first effort fails. Moreover, if forfeiture cannot be had absent a logbook signature or documentation that the addressee refused to sign, the BOP will have every incentive to make sure its internal procedures guarantee reliable delivery. The BOP's incentive fades if all that is required is a general statement by a mailroom employee that it is prison policy to deliver inmate mail. See supra, at 174.
4 The majority's concern that a more demanding proof of notice requirement would undermine finality, ante, at 171, is baffling: Disputes over whether notice was sent or received would be diminished, not encouraged, by requiring proof of notice by signature. Under the regime the majority tolerates, notice may be delivered or not depending on the diligence or carelessness of the prison administration and the reliability or neglect of its Unit Teams. "The title to property should not depend on such vagaries." Ibid.
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