Laws Against Disturbing the Peace: Examples, Penalties, and What To Do

It’s the old Hollywood trope: Kids throw a big party when their parents aren’t home, the cops get called, and everyone runs. In such a real life scenario, law enforcement officers could charge someone with disturbing the peace.

Disturbing the peace is an offense involving unruly behavior, fighting, or causing excessive noise. Everyone has a right to peace and tranquility within their home. If someone obstructs or intrudes on this peace and tranquility, homeowners have a right to call law enforcement to uphold their rights.

In most cases, disturbing the peace is only an infraction. However, in some states, disturbing the peace can lead to criminal charges. To avoid a criminal record for disturbing the peace, talk to a criminal defense attorney.

What Is Disturbing the Peace?

Disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct is when someone fights, disrupts gatherings, or engages in abusive language or obscene conduct with the intent to alarm, anger, or provoke an assault or breach of the peace.

You may think you can do whatever you want within the confines of your home, but this isn’t the case. The law provides that disorderly conduct charges can be filed for behaviors in public and private

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Examples of Disturbing the Peace

Some behaviors that the law considers a disturbance of the peace include:

• Inciting violence by using offensive or abusive language in public or by shouting
• Bullying a student anywhere near a school or on the school bus
• Holding an unlawful public assembly (such as a meeting to discuss criminal enterprises)
• Fighting or challenging someone to fight, or using fighting words, in a public place
• Shouting profanities out of a car window in front of a person’s home over an extended period of time
• Public intoxication, drunkenness, or being a public nuisance
• Letting your dog bark excessively in a residential area
• Intentionally playing loud music, or noisy conduct, during the night that continues, even after a fair warning (or police officers show up)

We don’t always get along with our neighbors. It is not enough that a person is merely annoying or embarrassing. The person’s disruptive conduct must have been on purpose (willful) or with bad intent (malicious).

Penalties for Disturbing the Peace

The penalties for disturbing the peace vary by jurisdiction. For example, in Minnesota, disturbing the peace is a misdemeanor and can carry penalties of up to 90 days of jail time and/or fines of up to $1,000. Disorderly conduct against a vulnerable adult by a caregiver is a gross misdemeanor, with higher fines and up to 364 days in jail.

Under the California Penal Code, disturbing the peace is also a misdemeanor charge, with penalties including up to 90 days in jai and/or a fine of $400. As an infraction, there is no jail time and fines are lower.

What To Do if You’re the Victim of Disturbing the Peace

If you’re a victim of an incident of disturbing the peace, conventional wisdom is to first ask the neighbor to stop the behavior. If the unreasonable noise continues, you can ask law enforcement to intervene.

What To Do if You’re Charged with Disturbing the Peace

If you are charged with disturbing the peace, it is a fairly subjective charge, and there are some defenses that are viable. For example, fighting in self-defense is generally an affirmative defense to battery or disturbing the peace.

Find Legal Help

Sometimes, a more serious charge of assault or other violence or disruptive behavior can be lowered to a disturbing the peace charge through negotiations with the prosecutor. All of this can be helped by hiring an experienced criminal defense lawyer.