Postal Service v. Konan · ¶35

A “loss” of mail is a deprivation of mail.“Loss is a ge- neric and relative term; it is not a word of limited, hard and fast meaning.”Black’s Law Dictionary 1094 (rev. 4th ed. 1968).But it is commonly used to refer to any “deprivation” or “that which is withheld,” id., at 1095, such as when some- one suffers the loss of property in a fire or the loss of income from being laid off.Webster’s defined “loss” as the “[a]ct or fact of losing (in various senses) or suffering deprivation.” Webster’s Second 1460.Oxford English Dictionary defined it as “being deprived of, or the failure to keep” something. 6 Oxford English Dictionary, at 452.One can, of course, suf- fer a deprivation of something when another intentionally keeps that thing for himself.Konan alleged that she was “entitled to possession” of her mail but that the Postal Serv- ice “converted” it.App. to Pet. for Cert. 58a–59a.Conver-…

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