39 U.S.C. § 3003
Section 3003 · Mail bearing a fictitious name or address
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Stokes (2016)
Most recently applied in Konan v. USPS (March 2024)
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.
(a) Upon evidence satisfactory to the Postal Service that any person is using a fictitious, false, or assumed name, title, or address in conducting, promoting, or carrying on or assisting therein, by means of the postal services of the United States, an activity in violation of sections 1302, 1341, and 1342 of title 18, it may—
(1) withhold mail so addressed from delivery; and
(2) require the party claiming the mail to furnish proof to it of the claimant's identity and right to receive the mail.
(b) The Postal Service may issue an order directing that mail, covered by subsection (a) of this section, be forwarded to a dead letter office as fictitious matter, or be returned to the sender when—
(1) the party claiming the mail fails to furnish proof of his identity and right to receive the mail; or
(2) the Postal Service determines that the mail is addressed to a fictitious, false, or assumed name, title, or address.