Being charged with Disorderly Conduct can have lasting consequences on ones future. Our firm’s mission is avoid the impacts that Disorderly Conduct charges may have. We also have a reputation for zealously representing for clients with Disorderly Conduct charges. Over the years, we have handled dozens of Disorderly Conduct cases.
Penalties For Disorderly Conduct
- First time offense:
- Fines up to $150
- Second offense fines up to $200, and up to 6 months in jail.
Subsequent convictions for this offense carries the following potential penalties:
- imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 6 months
- fine of not more than $200
- both fine and imprisonment
The law of Disorderly Conduct:
- In order to prove the defendant guilty of this offense, the Commonwealth must prove three things beyond a reasonable doubt:
- First: The Commonwealth must prove that the defendant involved himself (herself) in at least one of the following actions: he (she) either engaged in fighting or threatening, or engaged in violent or tumultuous behavior or created a hazardous or physically offensive condition by an act that served no legitimate purpose of the defendant’s;
- Second: The Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s actions were reasonably likely to affect the public; and
- Third: The Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant either intended to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly created a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.
- Importantly, for a defendant to be found guilty, his (her) actions must have been reasonably likely to affect the public, that is, persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access. Commonwealth v. Templeman, 376 Mass. 553, 537 (1978).
- Offensive language. General Laws c. 272, § 53 cannot constitutionally be applied to language and expressive conduct, even if it is offensive and abusive, unless it falls outside the scope of First Amendment protections, i.e. it constitutes “fighting words which by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.” Commonwealth v. Richards, 369 Mass. 443, 445-450, 340 N.E.2d 892, 894-897 (1976); A Juvenile, 368 Mass. at 587- 595, 334 N.E.2d at 622-627; Commonwealth v. Sinai, 47 Mass. App. Ct. 544 at 546, 714 N.E.2d at 833. See Lewis v. New Orleans, 415 U.S. 130, 94 S.Ct. 970 (1974); Rosenfeld v. New Jersey, 408 U.S. 901, 92 S.Ct. 2479 (1972); Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 62 S.Ct. 766 (1942); Blavackas, 11 Mass. App. Ct. at 748-752, 419 N.E.2d at 857-859 (doubtful that public solicitation for sexual activity is “disorderly conduct,” which seems to require proof at least of significant risk of violence or serious disturbance). However, non-expressive disorderly conduct is punishable even if accompanied by constitutionally protected speech or expressive conduct. Richards, supra; Commonwealth v. Carson, 10 Mass. App. Ct. 921, 921-922, 411 N.E.2d 1337, 1337-1338 (1980).
- In essence, our disorderly conduct law seeks to control intentional conduct which tends to disturb the public tranquility, or to alarm or provoke others. It prohibits four separate and distinct acts: It forbids conduct that involves the use of force or violence. It also prohibits making threats that involve the immediate use of force or violence. It forbids tumultuous and highly agitated behavior, which may not involve physical violence, but which causes riotous commotion and excessively unreasonable noise, and so constitutes a public nuisance. Finally, the law prohibits any conduct that creates a hazard to public safety or a physically offensive condition by an act that serves no legitimate purpose of the defendant’s. Commonwealth v. Blavackas, 11 Mass. App. Ct. 746, 749, (1981).
Feel free to call us and discuss the complexities of Disorderly Conduct charges.