18 U.S.C. § 1720
Section 1720 · Canceled stamps and envelopes
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Melton v. Oleson (1974)
Most recently applied in 607 F. App'x 770 - Cleveland v. Harvanek (April 2015)
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 uses or attempts to use in payment of postage, any canceled postage stamp, whether the same has been used or not, or removes, attempts to remove, or assists in removing, the canceling or defacing marks from any postage stamp, or the superscription from any stamped envelope, or postal card, that has once been used in payment of postage, with the intent to use the same for a like purpose, or to sell or offer to sell the same, or knowingly possesses any such postage stamp, stamped envelope, or postal card, with intent to use the same or knowingly sells or offers to sell any such postage stamp, stamped envelope, or postal card, or uses or attempts to use the same in payment of postage; or
Whoever unlawfully and willfully removes from any mail matter any stamp attached thereto in payment of postage; or
Whoever knowingly uses in payment of postage, any postage stamp, postal card, or stamped envelope, issued in pursuance of law, which has already been used for a like purpose—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; but if he is a person employed in the Postal Service, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, 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., §328 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §205, 35 Stat. 1127).
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 $500” in two places in last par.
Cross References
Forfeiture of counterfeit paraphernalia, see section 492 of this title.