Mailing indecent matter on wrappers or envelopes
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
All matter otherwise mailable by law, upon the envelope or outside cover or wrapper of which, and all postal cards upon which, any delineations, epithets, terms, or language of an indecent, lewd, lascivious, or obscene character are written or printed or otherwise impressed or apparent, are nonmailable matter, and shall not be conveyed in the mails nor delivered from any post office nor by any letter carrier, and shall be withdrawn from the mails under such regulations as the Postal Service shall prescribe.
Whoever knowingly deposits for mailing or delivery, anything declared by this section to be nonmailable matter, or knowingly takes the same from the mails for the purpose of circulating or disposing of or aiding in the circulation or disposition of the same, shall be or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 769 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 91–375, §6(j)(13), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 778 (PDF, 12 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB).)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to knowingly mail anything with indecent, lewd, or obscene words or pictures on the outside of the envelope, wrapper, or postcard. Taking such mail out of the mail system to spread it is also a crime.