Moral turpitude

Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States and some other countries that refers to "conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals." This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginning in the 19th century.

The concept of "moral turpitude" might escape precise definition, but it has been described as an "act of baseness, vileness, or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes to his fellowmen, or to society in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man."

The classification of a crime or other conduct as constituting moral turpitude has significance in several areas of law. First, prior conviction of a crime of moral turpitude (or in some jurisdictions, "moral turpitude conduct", even without a conviction) is considered to have a bearing on the honesty of a witness and might be used for purposes of the impeachment of witnesses. Second, offenses involving moral turpitude may be grounds to deny or revoke state professional licenses such as a teaching credentials, licenses to practice law, or other licensed profession. Third, this concept is of great importance for immigration purposes in the United States, Canada, and some other countries, since offenses which are defined as involving moral turpitude are considered bars to immigration into the U.S.

Others

There are other crimes of moral turpitude that are not mentioned below, but they definitely should be mentioned in this article: In court proceedings: tampering with a witness, tampering with the jury, attempting to intimidate a witness, a juror, or the judge, impersonating a licensed attorney. (Bribery is mentioned below.) In the area of law enforcement, felony convictions for these should be crimes of moral turpitude: making false statements to law enforcement officers such as these: policemen on the state level and below, and a wide variety of Federal law-enforcement agents such as Federal marshals, agents of the F.B.I., and agents of the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Defense, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (in charge of nuclear power and the production of nuclear weapons), U.S. Department of the Interior (including law-enforcement agents at National Parks, National Monuments, and National Seashores), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Secret Service (which investigates counterfeiting and protects the President and the Vice-President), Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of the Treasury—and also their equivalents on the State level. Furthermore, in law enforcement, felony convictions for making false statements to District Attorneys on the State and on the Federal level (the U.S. Department of Justice) should be crimes of moral turpitude.

Murder, criminally negligent homicide, and aggravated manslaughter should also be considered to be crimes of moral turpitude, but they are not listed below.

American Immigration law

A conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) causes a person to be inadmissible to the United States under section 212(a)(2)(a)(i) of the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act). There are petty offense exceptions to this rule, but these exceptions do not change the meaning of the question on the Visa Waiver Program or on the visa application form, and cannot be self-certified. A controlled substance violation causes the alien to be inadmissible to the United States under section 212(a)(2)(i)(II) of the INA. They are two different sections of the law. A controlled substance violation is a CIMT. The immigration administrative proceeding does not use a controlled substance violation as a CIMT. A visa waiver program applicant admissibility is determined at the port of entry and they are subject to section 212(a) and 217 of the INA.^{[citation needed]}

Visa Waiver Program

The first question on document I-94W for those visiting the U.S. on the Visa Waiver Program asks:

Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controled substance; or been arrested or convicted for two or more offenses for which the aggregate sentence to confinement was five years or more; or been controled substance trafficker; or are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?

Little guidance is provided to the traveler as to which offenses are included in the definition; however the Web site of the U.S. embassy in London states that a visa is required for anyone who has ever been arrested or convicted for any offense. This appears to be at variance with the question on form I-94W and information supplied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as there are many offenses that are not considered to involve moral turpitude

U.S. government guidance on determining moral turpitude

A definition of moral turpitude is available for immigration purposes on the United States Department of State website.

For offenses (or arrests on suspicion of such offenses) occurring outside the U.S., the locally defined offense must be considered against the U.S. definitions, and in such cases it is the definition of the offense (as defined in the appropriate country) which is considered for immigration purposes, and not the circumstances of the individual's actual case.^{[citation needed]}

Whether a state law offense constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude for federal immigration purposes is decided on a statute by statute basis, because each state statute might cover a different range behaviors, some of which may not necessarily involve moral turpitude under the Federal definition. For a good example of a criminal statute that seems like it would categorically involve moral turpitude, but actually does not because the statute covers some behavior that does not involve moral turpitude, see the Ninth Circuit case Castrijon-Garcia v. Holder, No. 09-73756 (9th Cir. 2013) (simple kidnapping under California Penal Code § 207(a) is not a categorical crime involving moral turpitude).

Category	Crimes involving moral turpitude	Crimes not involving moral turpitude
Crimes Against Property	Fraud: Making false representation Knowledge of such false representation by the perpetrator Reliance on the false representation by the person defrauded An intent to defraud The actual act of committing fraud Evil intent: Arson Blackmail Burglary Embezzlement Extortion False pretenses Forgery Fraud Larceny (grand or petty) Malicious destruction of property Receiving stolen goods (with guilty knowledge) Robbery Theft (when it involves the intention of permanent taking) Transporting stolen property (with guilty knowledge)	Damaging private property (where intent to damage not required) Breaking and entering (requiring no specific or implicit intent to commit a crime involving moral turpitude) Passing bad checks (where intent to defraud not required) Possessing stolen property (if guilty knowledge is not essential) Joy riding (where the intention to take permanently not required) Juvenile delinquency Trespassing
Crimes Committed Against Governmental Authority	Bribery Counterfeiting Fraud against revenue or other government functions Mail fraud Perjury Harboring a fugitive from justice (with guilty knowledge) Tax evasion (willful)	Black market violations Breach of the peace Carrying a concealed weapon Desertion from the Armed Forces Disorderly conduct Drunk or reckless driving Driving while license suspended or revoked Drunkenness Escape from prison Failure to report for military induction False statements (not amounting to perjury or involving fraud) Firearm violations Gambling violations Immigration violations Liquor violations Loan sharking Lottery violations Minor traffic violations Possessing burglar tools (without intent to commit burglary) Smuggling and customs violations (where intent to commit fraud is absent) Tax evasion (without intent to defraud) Vagrancy
Crimes Committed Against Person, Family Relationship, and Sexual Morality	Abandonment of a minor child (if willful and resulting in the destitution of the child) Adultery (see INA 101** repealed by Public Law 97-116) Assault (this crime is broken down into several categories, which involve moral turpitude): Assault with intent to kill, commit rape, commit robbery or commit serious bodily harm Assault with a dangerous or deadly weapon Bigamy Paternity fraud Contributing to the delinquency of a minor Gross indecency Incest (if the result of an improper sexual relationship) Kidnapping Lewdness Manslaughter: Voluntary Involuntary (where the statute requires proof of recklessness, which is defined as the awareness and conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustified risk which constitutes a gross deviation from the standard that a reasonable person would observe in the situation. A conviction for the statutory offense of vehicular homicide or other involuntary manslaughter requires only a showing of negligence will not involve moral turpitude even if it appears the defendant in fact acted recklessly) Mayhem Murder Pandering Prostitution Rape (including "Statutory rape" by virtue of the victim's age)	Assault (simple) (any assault, which does not require an evil intent or depraved motive, although it may involve the use of a weapon, which is neither dangerous nor deadly) Bastardy (the offense of begetting a bastard child) Creating or maintaining a nuisance (where knowledge that premises were used for prostitution is not necessary) Incest (when a result of a marital status prohibited by law) Involuntary manslaughter (when killing is not the result of recklessness) Libel Mailing an obscene letter Mann Act violations (where coercion is not present) Riot Suicide (attempted)
Attempts, Aiding and Abetting, Accessories and Conspiracy	An attempt to commit a crime deemed to involve moral turpitude Aiding and abetting in the commission of a crime deemed to involve moral turpitude Being an accessory (before or after the fact) in the commission of a crime deemed to involve moral turpitude Taking part in a conspiracy (or attempting to take part in a conspiracy) to commit a crime involving moral turpitude where the attempted crime would not itself constitute moral turpitude.	N/A
From the United States Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual

See also

• Good moral character
• Nemo auditur propriam turpitudinem allegans