U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 83— POSTAL SERVICE

18 U.S.C. § 1703

Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers

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(a) Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, unlawfully secretes, destroys, detains, delays, or opens any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail entrusted to him or which shall come into his possession, and which was intended to be conveyed by mail, or carried or delivered by any carrier or other employee of the Postal Service, or forwarded through or delivered from any post office or station thereof established by authority of the Postmaster General or the Postal Service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.(b) Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, improperly detains, delays, or destroys any newspaper, or permits any other person to detain, delay, or destroy the same, or opens, or permits any other person to open, any mail or package of newspapers not directed to the office where he is employed; or

Whoever, without authority, opens, or destroys any mail or package of newspapers not directed to him, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 778; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 37, 63 Stat. 95; Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(j)(16), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 778; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(B), (G), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2146, 2147.)Historical and Revision Notes1948 Act

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 318, 319 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §§ 195, 196, 35 Stat. 1125, 1126).

Section consolidated sections 318 and 319 of said title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed. The embezzlement and theft provisions of each were incorporated in sections 1709 and 1710 of this title.

Minor changes were made in phraseology.

1949 Act

This section [section 37] corrects typographical errors in section 1703 of title 18, U.S.C.

Editorial NotesAmendments

1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $500” in subsec. (a) and “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $100” in last par.

1970—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(j)(16)(A), amended subsec. (a) generally, which prior to amendment read as follows: “Whoever, being a postmaster or Postal Service employee, unlawfully detains, delays, or opens any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail intrusted to him or which shall come into his possession, and which was intended to be conveyed by mail, or carried or delivered by any carrier or other employee of the Postal Service, or forwarded through or delivered from any post office or station thereof established by authority of the Postmaster General; or secretes, or destroys any such letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(j)(16)(B), substituted “Postal Service officer or employee” for “postmaster or Postal Service employee”.

1949—Subsec. (a). Act May 24, 1949, § 37(a), substituted “secretes” for “secrets”.

Subsec. (b). Act May 24, 1949, § 37(b), substituted “newspapers” for “newspaper”.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1970 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 91–375 effective within 1 year after Aug. 12, 1970, on date established therefor by Board of Governors of United States Postal Service and published by it in Federal Register, see section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as an Effective Date note preceding section 101 of Title 39, Postal Service.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 96 cases (21 in the last 5 years), 1955–2026 · leading case: United States v. Granderson
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United States v. Granderson (1994) scotus · cites it 8× “The District Court imposed no prison time, but sentenced Granderson to five years' probation and a $2,000 fine.”
Green v. Brennan (2016) scotus · cites it 2× “See 18 U. S. C. §1703 . They informed Green that the Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was inves- tigating the charge and that OIG agents had arrived to interview him as part of their investigation.”
United States v. Charles E. Brownlee (1991) ca7 · cites it 14× “Brownlee, a former postal employee, appeals his conviction for delaying and opening mail entrusted to him to deliver in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (a). We affirm. I. On September 28, 1989, Charles Brown-lee was working as a letter carrier at the Garfield Park Post Office in…”
United States v. Ronald Wynn (1988) ca7 · cites it 2× “§ 1709 , 1 and one count of knowingly and without authority opening mail not directed to him, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (b). 2 The letter that Wynn improperly opened contained $100 in food stamps.”
United States of America, Cross-Appellee v. Robert D. Scott, Cross-Appellant (1993) ca11 · cites it 8× “Scott was indicted for one count of detaining mail in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (“Count I”) and one count of stealing mail in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Cheryl Gordon (1992) ca3 · cites it 2× “Cheryl Gordon pled guilty in May 1989 to violating 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (1988) by removing a $596.”
Alvarado v. Donahoe (2012) ca1 “, 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (making the unlawful destruction or delay of “any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail” an offense punishable by fine or imprisonment of no more than five years).”
United States v. Ralph Stuart Granderson, Jr. (1992) ca11 · cites it 2× “FACTS Ralph Granderson was charged by information in federal district court with one count of delay or destruction of mail under 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (a), which carries a possible term of zero to six months incarceration under the Sentencing Guidelines.”
United States v. Mae C. Anderson (1988) ca9 · cites it 2× “18 U.S.C. § 1703 (a) (1982) (emphasis added), and section 1709: Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, embezzles any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, .”
United States v. Raymond Eugene Johnson (1980) ca9 “HUG, Circuit Judge: Appellant, Raymond Eugene Johnson, was convicted in a jury trial of aiding and abetting the obstruction of correspondence, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703 and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . Johnson appeals on the ground that statements made by him on the day of his arrest…”
United States v. Efrain Lamberty (1985) ca1 · cites it 2× “He was convicted of opening a package addressed to a resident of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, which had been “mistakenly” sent to Coto Laurel and which he should have redirected to the proper address, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (a). 1 The basis of this appeal is Lamberty’s…”
United States v. Donald Caparella (1983) ca2 “§ 1709 (1976), and the misdemeanor of opening mail without authority under 18 U.S.C. § 1703 (b) (1976). Arraigned before a Magistrate in the Eastern District of New York, he entered a plea of not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.”
Show all 96 citing cases →
— 18 U.S.C. § 1703(a) — 3 cases
United States v. Mae C. Anderson (1988) ca9 “18 U.S.C. § 1703 (a) (1982) (emphasis added), and section 1709: Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, embezzles any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, .”
United States v. Robinson (2004) ca7
United States v. Cook (2000) ca4
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.