A distinguished lawyer call our office this morning to discuss a previous post on summary offenses, where the reader could interpret our post to mean that summary offenses are not crimes. He stated that under Commonwealth v. Matty, 619 A.2d 1383 (Pa. Super. 1993), certain summary offenses are in fact crimes because if you face jail time in a case, it is a criminal case.
First, summary offenses are broken into two categories, traffic offenses and non-traffic offenses. Certain traffic offenses are not criminal offenses, but can carry jail time. Therefore, I respectfully disagree with my colleage that if you are looking at jail time, the case that puts you in jail must be a crime.
Further, in Matty, the issue is whether a conviction for a summary conviction can stand when a crime was charged to the jury. The issue in the case is NOT whether a summary offense is a crime. Clearly, 18 Pa.C.S.A. sec. 106, defines all gradations of crimes and summaries are not listed. Therefore a summary offense is not a crime technically. Therefore, I respectfully disagree with my colleague regarding the syntax of the case and the PA Code.
However, summary offenses are reported to the Pennsylvani State Police and they pop-up on record checks (traffic offenses do not appear on criminal record checks). Regardless of how one reads the Matty case or sec. 106, if you are convicted of a Summary Offense, you may face jail time and the Summary Offense will come up in a crminal record check.
A Summary Offense is expungeable and a Summary Offense is reported on a criminal record check. This debate about whether a Summary Offense is a criminal offense is of no moment. The real issue is whether a Summary conviction can effect your life and liberty? The answer is clearly: yes.
Tags: criminal offenses, criminal record checks, disorderly conduct, expungement, harassment, state police, summary, summary conviction, summary offense, traffic offenses
I have been issued summary offense (non-traffic) citations in the past. They were issued by local police and I paid fines, no jail time. It was my understanding that summary offenses only appear on PSP record checks if a PSP officer issued the citation. I have read my own PSP criminal history and no summary offenses appeared on it even though I have a few. Does the PSP not include summary offenses on criminal history reports when requested by citizens? Or do they not know or care about summary citations issued by municipal police?
FWIW, leash law violations and false alarm violations are written out on the same non-traffic citation form. So by what you are saying, if my burglar alarm goes off and the police arrive to find it was a false alarm and then issue me a non-traffic citation for which I pay a fine…that becomes part of my criminal history????
I don’t know the answer relating to the leash law and false alarm issue. I would be interested if you ordered a certified record from the Pennsylvania State Police, to see how that certified report would read. I would also like to see the best report from an internet provider like intelius, and see how that reads.
I will still stick to my early answers to these questions that I am far less concerned with what is or is not a crime. I am more concerned with how these issue are reported by the state police and the fbi.
Let me give you a hypothetical example. I am lawyer and you come to me for advice I tell you that leash law violations are NOT crimes. You have five leash law violations. I tell you not to worry about them. You apply for a job as a paralegal and the lawyer who interviews you interview hates her neighbor. The reason she hates her neighbor is because the lawyer’s kid got bit last year by the neighbor’s dog because the dog wasn’t properly leashed. The job interview goes fine and the lawyer wants to hire you. The lawyer then conducts her normal background check on all of her potential new hires. Because she is a lawyer, she only uses the most top-notch background check. The five leash law violations come on the report. Do you think you will get hired?
Again, I don’t think the issue is whether it is crime, but rather how it is reported.
Does a summary offense non-traffic, could be used against an individual for immigration purposes? Could someone not be eligle for cancellation of deportation for a summary offense of this source? Could anyone give me any guidance as to where I could read about similar cases in Pennsylvania? Thank you!
I understand your point but I think the two issues in your last sentence go hand in hand. How it’s reported has everything to do with whether it’s considered a crime or not. Apparently a conviction of a summary offense is not considered a “conviction of a crime” unless jail time was served. If you are issued a summary citation and pay your fine without ever being booked or printed, I believe the story ends at your local magistrate. Obviously anything and everything can now be found on the UJS site but that is not an official criminal record.
If you’re not booked for a crime, I highly doubt it shows up on NCIC. I really don’t think the FBI cares about your public urination charge but I do not know for sure.
Interestingly enough, some job applications now specifically address PA residents and state to not list summary offenses unless it involved certain circumstances, like theft.
Our summary offense system is odd but sometimes good in a way. Doing things that net you a citation in PA will get you booked and held on bond in other states (and definitely reported to NCIC).
@Jon, I agree with everything you are saying. My point to the original lawyer that I spoke with is exactly your point that all of this is semantics. We get many phone calls from people telling us they have paid an internet company to run a criminal record check for them and it comes back showing the summary offense.
If you run a background check and the summary offense shows up, to me it is semantics whether you think it is a crime or not. To me the answer is, GET RID OF IT, because if I can find it, a future employer or graduate school can find it too.
@Kenia, in the last year or so, we have heard some bizarre ICE issues dealing with deportation. It seems like folks can get deported or get denied entry into the United States for just about anything.
If the summary is older then 5 years, we can most likely get it expunged. I am not certain how ICE would view the expungement, but my guess is that they would honor the expungement.
I am surprised to hear that a summary is cause all of these immigration issues.
if you have a non traffic disorderly conduct hazardous physical offense-summary and are found guilty by a summary hearing, what does that mean? And what is an example of a non traffic diorderly conduct hazardus physical offense? If you are found guilty and pay a fine does this show on a criminal background check, and could it affect custody of a child?
A guilty for a summary offense for a for a non traffic disorderly conduct will show up on a criminal background check. After five years pass, you may be able to get it removed from your record through an expungement.
Whether that conviction is criminal or not is irrelevant because the conviction is reported on your criminal background history from the Pennsylvania State Police. If you have already been convicted of Disorderly Conduct, an example of Disorderly Conduct is irrelevant because even if you were falsely convicted, based on your question, you are outside the window of appeal. I have no idea how this can effect child custody.