28 U.S.C. § 502
Section 502 · Seal
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case United States v. Smyth (1952)
Most recently applied in 80 F. Supp. 3d 1231 - Malibu Media, LLC v. Ling (February 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.
The Attorney General shall have a seal for the Department of Justice. The design of the seal is subject to the approval of the President.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The section is rewritten to conform to other statutes authorizing departmental seals. The words “The seal heretofore provided for the office of the Attorney General shall be” are omitted as obsolete.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 502, act June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 909, related to appointment of assistant United States attorneys, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 89–554, §8(a), and reenactment in section 542 of this title by section 4(c) of Pub. L. 89–554.