Disorderly Conduct Crimes
the misdemeanor of individual disorderly conduct and the group disorderly conduct felony of riot.
"quality of life" crimes--crimes of "bad manners" in public
Disorderly conduct crimes are offenses against public order and morals. Except for riot, they are
Order
refers to acting according to ordinary people's standard of "good manners
Liberty
refers to the right of individuals to come and go as they please without government inference.
crimes against public order
bad manners" crimes
"quality of life" crimes
victimless crimes
crimes involving willing participants, or participants who don't see themselves as victims.
(1) it applies only to consenting adults, not minors.
(2) it refers to crimes committed by adults who do not see themselves as victims of their behavior.
Crimes:
P
Individual Disorderly Conduct
disorderly conduct statutes grew out of the ancient common law crime known as "breach of peace." It included both misdemeanors of actual disorderly conduct and constructive disorderly conduct. Both types of statutes create two problems: (1) they're too va
Actual disorderly conduct
fighting in public, making unreasonable noise. or making a physical noise, or making a hazardous and defensive position for no reason.
constructive disorderly conduct
conduct that "tends to provoke or excite others to break it [the peace]
public
means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, or any neighborh
Group Disorderly Conduct
Group disorderly conduct consisted of 3 misdemeanors at the common law; unlawful assembly, rout, and riot. All 3 were aimed at preventing "the ultimate evil of open disorder and breach of the public peace.
Unlawful assembly
Unlawful assembly was committed when a group of at least three persons joined for the purpose of committing an unlawful act. If three or more took action toward achieving their purpose, they committed rout.
Rout
If three or more persons took action toward achieving their purpose, they committed rout.
Riot
If the group actually committed an unlawful violent act, or performed a lawful act in a "violent or tumultuous manner," they committed riot. Committing riot does not require the group to plan their unlawful violent act before they got together; it wad eno
Broken Window theory
The "broken window" theory states there is a link between minor quality of life offenses and more serious crimes. The empirical findings as to whether there's a link are mixed. Found by Wilson and Kelling (1982).
We want to be vigorous in the "quality of
Vagrancy
For at least 600 years, it's been a crime for poor people to roam around without visible means of support (vagrancy) or to stand around with no apparent purpose (loitering).
Vagrancy are laws targeting poor people's behavior, and the attitudes behind them
Parker v. Municipal Judge (1967)
Nevada Supreme Court struck down vagrancy laws on the basis that it is not a crime to be unemployed, without funds, and in a public place. This was a due process challenge, two pieces: (1) no adequate notice or whats expected of people (2) leaves enforcem
Papichristou v. City of Jacksonville (1972)
U.S. Court struck down the Jacksonville, Florida, vagrancy ordinance, which was nearly identical to virtually every other vagrancy law in the country. Justice Douglas declared the ordinance void for vagueness, because it failed to give adequate notice to
Loitering
Loitering means to "remain in one place with no apparent purpose.
Kolender v. Lawson (1983)
the U.S. Supreme Court tightened the constitutional restrictions on loitering statuses. The Court struck down a California statute that combined ancient vagrancy and loitering into a new crime defined as "wandering the streets and failing to produce credi
Joyce v. City and County of San Francisco (1994)
U.S. District Judge Lowell Jensen heard a motion to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the city of San Francisco from continuing its Matrix Program. The program was designed to preserve the quality of life on San Francisco streets and other public pla
Panhandling
Panhandling consists of stopping people on the street to ask them for food or money. These anti-begging ordinances do not apply to charities. Supporters of the distinction says the rights revolution has reached a point where the rights of a minority of of
Time, place, manner regulations of the First Amendment free speech clause
According to the Supreme Court, to be constitutional, restrictions have to satisfy three elements of a time, place, and manner test.
(1) they're not based on the content of the speech,
(2) they serve a significant government interest--for example, maintai
First element in the test
The first element in the test bars the use of the regulation to suppress any message about social conditions that panhandlers are trying to convey.
Second element in the test
The second element in the test is often hotly debated. Advocates for panhandlers argue that the regulation of panhandling is really a government policy of removing "unsightly" poor people from public view. Others maintain that the "purpose is to permit pe
Third element in the test
The third element requires the regulation to allow panhandlers to beg in other ways. So a panhandling ordinance that prohibits "aggressive panhandling" leaves panhandlers free to beg peaceably. So do bans on fraudulent panhandling or panhandling in subway
First Amendment
The First Amendment gives the government considerable leeway to regulate nonverbal expression. This would allow direct efforts to stop panhandlers from approaching people or blocking the sidewalk to beg or receiving the money they solicited.
The First Ame
Gresham v. Peterson (2000)
U.S. District court rejected the injunction placed against the panhandling ordinance. The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed their decision. This deals with the protected First Amendment speech so there are limits that apply to it.
An Indianapolis ordinance t
Gang Activity
Gangs can include everything from casual groups of kids who are just hanging out drinking a little bit all the way to "organized fighting squads" who terrorize neighborhoods.
Gangs composed of older, rowdier members are more threatening.
Criminal Law Responses to Gang Activity
A number of state and city governments have passed criminal laws to regulate gang behavior. In some places, it's a crime to participate in a gang. Some statutes and ordinances have stiffened the penalties for crimes committed by gang members. Others make
Chicago 1992
Chicago passed an ordinance that allowed police officers the power to order groups of loiterers to disperse or face arrest if officers reasonably believed that one of the loiterers was a gang member.
City of Chicago v. Morales (1999)
A divided Court decided that the ordinance was void for vagueness. Several justices, but not the majority, also argued that the ordinance violated the right to come and go as you please without unreasonable government interference.
The 4 elements for the
Public nuisance injunctions
City attorneys ask courts to declare gang activities and gang members public nuisances and to issue public nuisance injunctions, court orders to eliminate the particular nuisance.
People ex rel. Gallo v. Acuna (1997)
According to California Supreme Court, a public nuisance may be any act.
Civil Gang Injunctions
Civil gang injunctions are a growing gang suppression strategy. They're noncriminal lawsuits brought by cities seeking restraining orders to bar gang members from gang activity, which can include, among others, interacting with one another, entering speci
Justice Policy Institute
The Justice Policy Institute conducted an extensive review of research on gangs "because we believe that the costs of uninformed policy making--including thousands of lives lost to violence or imprisonment--are simply too high.
Prostitution and Solicitation
Prostitution is an ancient business, prospering in all cultures at all times no matter the condemnation of religion and morals.
Civil injnction
government filing an injunction against a specific group of people telling them not to engage in a particular behavior.
2 Philosophies on victimless crimes
(1) Wolfendon report--someone doing something to themselves, or engaging in consensual conduct with someone else, that is private morality and law should not be involved. There are other things society can do to encourage the behavior we want.
(2) Devlin-