Disorderly Conduct Lawyers

Disorderly Conduct may well be the vaguest and overly–used misdemeanor crime still on the criminal law books.

A person can be charged with Disorderly Conduct under either Massachusetts state or federal law.

The most common such charge is under Massachusetts law. A person can be found guilty of being disorderly if he or she is found to have had an intention of causing public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm. One can also be found disorderly if one recklessly creates a risk of that alarm, and engages in fighting or threatening, violent or tumultuous behavior. Finally, another possibility is if said person is found to have created a hazard or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose.

The federal Disorderly Conduct statute offers the same criteria, but also adds that a person can be found guilty of the statute with the same state of mind, but specific targeted activities are mentioned, such as "Making noise that is unreasonable" or "maintaining "a hazardous or physically offensive condition".

The elements of these statutes can be pretty general. They really place the emphasis on the audience of whatever conduct or speech that is being demonstrated. It is easy to believe you are simply exercising your First Amendment right of free speech only to find that someone found the speech to be offensive and so called the police. Often, it is the police themselves who find the conduct or speech to be annoying or objectionable. In the end, it is the police officer who decides whether what you are doing constituted disorderly conduct. That is, until the matter is brought into court and a judge or jury.

Many people seem to believe that being charged with Disorderly Conduct is "no big deal". They are mistaken. Disorderly Conduct is punishable by potential incarceration. Further, even if a jail sentence , or even a guilty finding, is the result, the matter goes onto your criminal record (CORI) upon arraignment. In some cases, you will have to wait five years or more to even try to seal that record.

Often, the charge of Disorderly Conduct follows other, more serious charges, such as assault and battery, resisting arrest, drunk driving, and a host of other felonies. The charge is legal shorthand for "this guy angered the investigating officer".

Often times during a criminal investigation, the investigating police officers have the need to say in "control" of a crime scene. This often means zero toleration for your exercising a perceived First Amendment right to express yourself.

Our experienced disorderly conduct lawyers have successfully handled countless Disorderly Conduct cases in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts over the past 40 years. There no such thing as an "unimportant" criminal charge.if it is happening to you or someone you care about take the time to call Boston criminal defense lawyers for a free consultation. Our lawyers are available around the clock seven days a week.