18 U.S.C. § 1463 — Mailing indecent matter on wrappers or envelopes
submitted 78 years ago by ch. 645 to r/title-18-CRIMES-AND-CRIMINAL-PROCEDURE · 140 words · no verdicts yet
An otherwise mailable item is not mailable if its envelope, outside cover, wrapper, or postal card contains writing or printing that is indecent, lewd, lascivious, or obscene. Knowingly mailing such an item, or taking it from the mail to circulate or dispose of it, can result in a fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
Any item that the law otherwise allows to be mailed becomes nonmailable if its envelope, outside cover, or wrapper, or a postal card, has any drawing, label, term, or language written, printed, or otherwise shown on it that is indecent, lewd, lascivious, or obscene. The item must not be carried in the mail or delivered from a post office or by a letter carrier. It must be removed from the mail under rules the Postal Service* prescribes.
Anyone who knowingly puts an item declared nonmailable by this section into the mail or for delivery, or knowingly takes it from the mail to circulate, dispose of, or help circulate or dispose of it, may be fined under this title, imprisoned for up to five years, or both.
All matter otherwise mailable by law, upon the envelope or outside cover or wrapper of which, and all postal cards upon which, any delineations, epithets, terms, or language of an indecent, lewd, lascivious, or obscene character are written or printed or otherwise impressed or apparent, are nonmailable matter, and shall not be conveyed in the mails nor delivered from any post office nor by any letter carrier, and shall be withdrawn from the mails under such regulations as the Postal Service* shall prescribe.
Whoever knowingly deposits for mailing or delivery, anything declared by this section to be nonmailable matter, or knowingly takes the same from the mails for the purpose of circulating or disposing of or aiding in the circulation or disposition of the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Source credit: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 769; Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(j)(13), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 778; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
- 1948Enacted · Act of June 25, 1948, ch. 645 · 62 Stat. 769
- 1970Amended · Pub. L. 91-375 · 84 Stat. 778
- 1994Amended · Pub. L. 103-322 · 108 Stat. 2147
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 645 on 1948-06-25.
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