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Public Intoxication Laws and Penalties
Public intoxication, drunk in public, drunk and disorderly conduct - all refer to the same crime that's treated differently in different states.
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Disorderly Conduct Laws and Penalties
In an effort to keep communities running smoothly, calmly, and peacefully, states and municipalities have numerous laws that limit what people can do. Whenever people engage in conduct that is likely to cause a disturbance or lead to some sort of non-peaceful event, this behavior is often prosecuted as disorderly conduct, sometimes referred to as “breach of the peace.”
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Disturbing the peace, also known as a breach of the peace, disorderly conduct, or by similar terms, occurs whenever someone acts in a way that disrupts the public order or disturbs the peace and tranquility of the community.
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Historically, vagrancy laws made it a crime for a person to wander from place to place without visible means of support. Basically, these laws criminalized being homeless and jobless. States used vagrancy laws to arrest, prosecute, and harass homeless people and poor people who were suspected of criminal activity or who were considered undesirable.
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Public Urination Laws and Penalties
Having a criminal record, even if the crime you’re convicted for doesn’t seem like a serious one, can have lifelong effects. So if you’re charged with a crime related to public urination, don’t think that it isn’t a big deal.
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Not many legal concepts reduce Supreme Court Justices to uttering, “I know it when I see it.” But that’s exactly what Justice Potter Stewart wrote about obscenity.
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Illegal Dumping: Laws & Penalties
Illegal dumping has become an increasingly large problem throughout the United States. Offenders often dump late at night to avoid the cost and inconvenience of proper waste disposal.
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How "drunk" must a person be to be convicted of public intoxication?
Being intoxicated in a public place is a crime in some states, subjecting people to arrest and prosecution, while many states treat it as a public health issue, necessitating treatment.
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Can the police question an intoxicated person whom they bring in to sober up?
Question: One of my buddies got picked up by the cops while we were out bar hopping. He was pretty loaded and they hauled him in for being drunk in public. While he was sobering up in the tank, the cops questioned him about whether he was on drugs and what drugs we had used that night. Can they do that?
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Do I have a right to a blood or breath test if I'm arrested for public intoxication?
Laws punishing public intoxication (also known as "drunken or disorderly conduct”) vary widely among states. Some states include the right to a blood or breath test, while others do not.
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Can I be charged with public intoxication if I was under the influence of a prescription drug?
Laws punishing public intoxication (also known as "drunken or disorderly conduct”) vary widely among states. Some states include being under the influence of a controlled substance—drugs and other substances whose possession is regulated by federal law—in the definition of “intoxication.” Other states address drug use in separate laws.
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If you were drunk at the time, can you be convicted?
Intoxication is not an excuse for criminal conduct, but it may deprive an intoxicated person of the mental capacity to form the intent required by law to be convicted of certain crimes. This is a very complex area of law and standards differ from state to state. This article gives a general summary of the law on intoxication as a defense to certain crimes.
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Is it discrimination to arrest an alcoholic for public intoxication?
Are police illegally discriminating if they arrest an alcoholic for public intoxication? Police officers are not violating antidiscrimination laws when they take people who are alcoholics into protective custody (or arrest them) for public intoxication. However, in some circumstances, alcoholism may
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Speak to a Criminal Defense Lawyer
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