76b8ec33a7
Ingested titles 12–51 and 54 from OLRC USLM XML @119-100 (the whole Code now, uniform edition; Title 53 is reserved/empty). LegalText 11,221 -> 59,740; repo total 105,704 records. Deterministic (byte-identical rerun, verified on Title 42's 8,356 sections); make check green. make legal-us-code default now covers every title. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
46 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "LegalText"
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title: "18 U.S.C. § 712"
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description: "Misuse of names, words, emblems, or insignia"
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jurisdiction: "us"
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corpus: "united_states_code"
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kind: "code_section"
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title_number: 18
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title_name: "CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE"
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chapter_number: "33"
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chapter_name: "EMBLEMS, INSIGNIA, AND NAMES"
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section: "712"
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citation: "18 U.S.C. § 712"
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status: "current"
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release_point: "119-100"
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release_date: "2026-06-26"
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source: "official"
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source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc18@119-100.zip"
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source_identifier: "/us/usc/t18/s712"
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source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-18/usc18.xml"
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source_hash: "8a11b267021d5ccda4a78d3e03b55acb5736ee54a9ec708142c58a59082e2e7c"
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raw_snapshot_hash: "1a1bbbbdb59e376ada4eb7ad1056fd68d396679ee7ab59f0561af15006122708"
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text_hash: "1fc9e105c301da616c199381386e326283ce34a4db9cd41d0d70bc07de5d6bca"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
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confidence: "official"
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tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
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---
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# 18 U.S.C. § 712 - Misuse of names, words, emblems, or insignia
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## Text
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Whoever, in the course of collecting or aiding in the collection of private debts or obligations, or being engaged in furnishing private police, investigation, or other private detective services, uses or employs in any communication, correspondence, notice, advertisement, or circular the words “national”, “Federal”, or “United States”, the initials “U.S.”, or any emblem, insignia, or name, for the purpose of conveying and in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the false impression that such communication is from a department, agency, bureau, or instrumentality of the United States or in any manner represents the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
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(Added Pub. L. 86–291, § 1, Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 570; amended Pub. L. 93–147, § 1(a), Nov. 3, 1973, 87 Stat. 554; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
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## Notes
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Editorial Notes
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Amendments1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000”. 1973—Pub. L. 93–147 substituted “Misuse of names, words, emblems, or insignia” for “Misuse of names by collecting agencies or private detective agencies to indicate Federal agency” in section catchline and substituted “in the course” and “such communication is from a department” for “being engaged in the business” and “such business is a department” respectively, and struck out “as part of the firm name of such business,” after “detective services, uses”.
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Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
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Effective DatePub. L. 86–291, § 2, Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 570, provided that: “The provisions of this section [enacting this section] shall become effective sixty days from the enactment thereof [Sept. 21, 1959].”
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