18 U.S.C. § 1693
Section 1693 · Carriage of mail generally
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Regents of University of California v. Public Employment Relations Board (1988)
Most recently applied in Knox v. Brnovich (October 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Whoever, being concerned in carrying the mail, collects, receives, or carries any letter or packet, contrary to law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §303 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §180, 35 Stat. 1123).
Reference to persons causing or procuring was omitted as unnecessary in view of definition of “principal” in section 2 of this title.
Minor verbal changes were made.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $50”.