18 U.S.C. § 1719
Section 1719 · Franking privilege
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Carter v. Telectron, Inc. (1977)
Most recently applied in 628 F. App'x 79 - United States v. Todd Lawton (January 2016)
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 makes use of any official envelope, label, or indorsement authorized by law, to avoid the payment of postage or registry fee on his private letter, packet, package, or other matter in the mail, shall be fined under this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §357 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §227, 35 Stat. 1134).
Minor verbal change was made. Section 746(f) of title 8, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Aliens and Nationality, providing same penalty for misuse of franking privilege in naturalization service, should be repealed as covered by this section. The proviso in section 337 of title 39, U.S.C., 1940 ed., The Postal Service, should also be repealed for the same reason.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $300”.
Cross References
Franking privilege, see section 3201 et seq. of Title 39, Postal Service.