Disorderly Conduct and Disorderly Person law in Michigan

According to Michigan’s rules, it’s a crime to be a “disorderly person.” To be a disorderly person, also referred to as disorderly conduct or disrupting the peace, can refer to so many different things, from protesting funerals to fights in bars. What these types of disruptive conduct have in general is that they are actions that are prone to disrupt, threaten, or offend others.

What Does It Mean to Be a “Disorderly Person”?

In Michigan, this is a crime to be a “disorder person.” Michigan’s disorderly civil rights law is similar to the old-fashioned vagrancy law. It contains a restriction against vagrants (people who travel from place to place without apparent support). Traditionally, vagrancy laws have criminalized a wide variety of actions, and states have used vagrancy laws to detain, punish, and intimidate homeless people and poor citizens accused of a criminal crime or rendered undesirable.

An individual is a disorderly person if the lawyer can prove that the person is either following a reasonable doubt:

A person of sufficient capability who avoids or disregards to aid his or her family. MCL 750.167(1)a).
A rising prostitute. MCL 750.167(1)(b) of the Law.
A window peeper. MCL 750.167(1)c).
An individual engaging in an illegal profession or business. MCL 750.167(1)d).
An individual that is intoxicated in a public area who either specifically endangers the welfare of another person or property or behaves in a way that creates a public nuisance. MCL 750.167(1)e).
An individual engaged in unlawful or obscene conduct in a public area. MCL 750.167(1)f). A mom’s breastfeeding of a child or breast milk expression doesn’t always constitute immoral or obscene conduct irrespective of whether or not her areola or nipple is visible either during incidental to breastfeeding or breast expression milk—750.167 (3) of the MCL.
A vagrant. MCL 750.167(1)g).
A man found begging in a public area. MCL 750.167(1)h). NOTE: This mandate of the Law on the unconstitutional person was found to be unconstitutional as a violation of the protection of freedom of speech of the First Amendment. Speet v. Schuette, 889 F. Supp. Supp. 2d 969 (W.D. Mich. 2012). 2.
An individual is found lying in a house of ill fame or prostitution or a position where prostitution or lewdness is practiced, encouraged, or authorized. MCL 750.167(1)i).
An individual who knowingly enters into and about a location where an illegal occupation or business is being carried out. MCL 750.167(1)j).
An individual who enters a police station, a police headquarters building, a county jail, a hospital, a courthouse, or any other government space or place to seek job opportunities of legal services or security services for criminal prosecution reasons. MCL 750.167(1)k).
An individual who is seen jostling or crowding people in a public place needlessly. MCL 750.167(1)l).
“Any individual who is drunk or reckless while hunting with a firearm or other weapon with a valid hunting license shall be considered to be a disorderly person. Upon the guilty verdict of that person, the weapon shall be seized and handed over to the Department of Natural Resources for disposal in the same way as the weapons confiscated for those other violations of the Game Laws. Upon conviction under this Act, the person so prosecuted shall be barred from applying for or holding a hunting license for a term of 3 years from the date of imprisonment, in addition to any penalty [for an outrageous act] and as part of any sentence implemented. Violation of the terms of such a sentence shall be found to be a crime. “MCL 750.167a.
An individual shall not carry out the following within 500 feet of a house or other place where a burial, funeral ceremony, or observation of a deceased person is being held or within 500 feet of a funeral procession or burial.

An individual convicted of being a disorderly person or conduct is guilty of a crime punished by up to 90 days in prison or a maximum fine to $500.00, or both, BUT WITH TWO EXCEPTIONS:

Suppose an individual who has been convicted of denying or neglecting to support his or her family under this section is charged with further infringements within two years. In that case, the person shall be tried as a second or third offender and sentenced with a felony prosecution the requires incarceration for not more than four years and a fine of not over $10,000.00, or both, whether the individual has been accused of refusing or neglecting to help his or her family under this provision—750.167 (2) of the MCL.
An individual who, according to MCL 750.167d, is charged as a disorderly person within 500 feet of a building or other place where death, memorial service, or observation of a deceased person is being held or within 500 feet of a burial ceremony or funeral is subject to a criminal conviction punishable as follows:
For the first conviction, a prison sentence not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding $5,000.00. MCL 750.168(2)a).
For a second or subsequent offense, a sentence of incarceration exceeds four years or a fine not exceeding $10,000.00, or both. MCL 750.168(2)(b) of the Act.

Besides the state law, almost all municipalities in Michigan have their form of disorderly person codes, which could include much more conduct than the government has prohibited. If you or a significant one are charged with a disorderly person or some other crime, please do not hesitate to contact a professional lawyer Who will help identify the necessary facts that could make a difference between a “guilty” and a “not guilty” conviction. This is particularly valid if there has been a past prosecution. Like in many other crimes, additional prosecutions can also result in harsher penalties.

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