In the field of postal delivery a dead letter refers tois a [[letter]] or [[parcel]] sent via the mail that for some reason is undeliverable or unclaimed. There are several scenarios that could lead to this situation. The letter may have been addressed to a nonexistent ___location, a ___location which existed at the time of the sending of the letter but was destroyed or abandoned before it could be delivered with no forwarding address provided, or the address could have become unreadable. It is also possible that the letter was sent without [[postage]] or a return address. Depending upon the class of postage under which the letter is sent or the policy of the postal service in charge of the letter's delivery the letter will be returned to its originator (if possible) or destroyed. The [[United States Postal Service]] has a policy of [[Mail Recovery Center]]s formerly the [[Dead Letter Office]].
==Last written document before death==
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==Law/policy==
A dead letter can also refer tobe anything that has outlived its relevance, such as a law which has not been revoked but is obsolete, inapplicable, or no longer enforced. This includes but is not limited to [[blue law]]s. Another example from an actual case is [[Parker v. District of Columbia]]: "In short, we take the District’s position to be that the [[Second Amendment]] is a dead letter." [http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200703/04-7041a.pdf]
==Crossword==
A dead letter can also refer tobe an empty space in a [[crossword puzzle]] where all the other letters of the corresponding words are filled in.
