(a) A person commits disorderly conduct if he or she intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:
(1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;
(2) In a public place or near a private residence that he or she has no right to occupy,
disturbs another person by making loud and unreasonable noise which under the circumstances
would disturb a person of average sensibilities;
(3) Directs at another person in a public place offensive words which are likely to provoke
a violent reaction on the part of the average person so addressed;
(4) Alone or with others, obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, building
entrance, elevator, aisle, stairway, or hallway to which the public or a substantial
group of the public has access or any other place ordinarily used for the passage
of persons, vehicles, or conveyances;
(5) Engages in conduct which obstructs or interferes physically with a lawful meeting,
procession, or gathering;
(6) Enters upon the property of another and for a lascivious purpose looks into an occupied
dwelling or other building on the property through a window or other opening; or
(7) Who without the knowledge or consent of the individual, looks for a lascivious purpose
through a window, or any other opening into an area in which another would have a
reasonable expectation of privacy, including, but not limited to, a restroom, locker
room, shower, changing room, dressing room, bedroom, or any other such private area,
notwithstanding any property rights the individual may have in the location in which
the private area is located.
(8) [Deleted by P.L. 2008, ch. 183, § 1].
(b) Any person, including a police officer, may be a complainant for the purposes of instituting
action for any violation of this section.
(c) Any person found guilty of the crime of disorderly conduct shall be imprisoned for
a term of not more than six (6) months, or fined not more than five hundred dollars
($500), or both.
(d) In no event shall subdivisions (a)(2) — (5) of this section be construed to prevent
lawful picketing or lawful demonstrations including, but not limited to, those relating
to a labor dispute.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
41
cases (
9 in the last 5 years), 1963–2026 · leading case:
State v. Martini, 860 A.2d 689 (R.I. 2004).
State v. Martini, 860 A.2d 689 (R.I. 2004).
· cites it 28× “Facts and Travel On December 3, 2002, by criminal information filed in Kent County Superior Court, the defendant, Thomas Martini (defendant), was charged with disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1, G.L.1956 § 12-29-5, and § 12-29-2.”
Petition of Crepeau-Cross, 385 A.2d 658 (R.I. 1978).
· cites it 20× “Crepeau-Cross, pleaded nolo contendere to a complaint charging him with three counts of “lewd, wanton and lascivious” conduct in violation of G.L. 1956 §11-45-1. On April 13, 1962, the petitioner received a three-year sentence which was suspended on condition of medical…”
State v. Hesford, 900 A.2d 1194 (R.I. 2006).
· cites it 4× “1956 § 11-35-14 (count 2); and (3) disorderly conduct under G.L.1956 § 11-45-1 (a) (count 3). After deliberating, the jury found defendant guilty on the telephone obstruction and disorderly conduct charges, and not guilty on the simple-assault charge.”
State v. Thomas H. Matthews, 111 A.3d 390 (R.I. 2015).
· cites it 7× “In what was the first of several instances of confusion throughout the pendency of this case regarding the applicable subsection of the disorderly conduct statute, the criminal complaint correctly cites the statute allegedly violated as G.L.1956 § 11-45-1 (a)(3), which is often…”
State v. Pitts, 990 A.2d 185 (R.I. 2010).
· cites it 5× “I Facts and Travel The defendant was charged with one count of disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1. 1 A jury trial was held from April 21 through April 23, 2008, at the conclusion of which defendant was convicted.”
State v. Russell, 890 A.2d 453 (R.I. 2006).
· cites it 3× “” *458 The defendant also argued that subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of § 11-45-1 must be read in conjunction with each other, thereby specifying that, to fall within the provisions of § ll-45-l(a)(l), the behavior, as required in § 11 — 45—1 (a)(2), must be committed in a public…”
State v. Furtado, 774 A.2d 38 (R.I. 2001).
· cites it 4× “1956 § 12-29-5 and one count of disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1 and *39 § 12-29-5. 1 The court sentenced him to a one-year suspended sentence with probation on the destruction of property count and six months to serve on the disorderly conduct count.”
State v. Pineda, 13 A.3d 623 (R.I. 2011).
· cites it 2× “1956 § 11-5-2, and disorderly conduct, G.L.1956 § 11-45-1. Pineda contends that the trial justice erred when he (1) declined to instruct the jury on self-defense, (2) failed to inform her that she was entitled to individual counsel separate from her codefendant or to inquire…”
State v. Rezendes, 253 A.2d 233 (R.I. 1969).
· cites it 11× “1956, §11-45-1, as amended. The defendant was found guilty in the fourth district court and was sentenced to serve 18 months at the adult correctional institutions.”
State Ex Rel. City of Providence v. Auger, 44 A.3d 1218 (R.I. 2012).
· cites it 3× “” Section 11-45-1 (c). The just-referenced Rhode Island statute by no means reflects a modern or postmodern novel desire to criminalize the making of loud and unreasonable noise.”
State v. Craig Van Dongen, 132 A.3d 1070 (R.I. 2016).
· cites it 2× “1956 § 12-29-5 2 (count 1) and “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly” engaging in fighting, threatening, violent, or tumultuous behavior, in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1 3 and.§ 12-29-5 (count 2).”
Fratiello v. Mancuso, 653 F. Supp. 775 (D.R.I. 1987).
· cites it 3× “Laws 1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 11-45-1. The charge against plaintiff resulted from his alleged use of loud and abusive language, which Officer Rodger claimed was offensive to passersby.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(a) — 4 cases
State v. Martini, 860 A.2d 689 (R.I. 2004).
“Facts and Travel On December 3, 2002, by criminal information filed in Kent County Superior Court, the defendant, Thomas Martini (defendant), was charged with disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1, G.L.1956 § 12-29-5, and § 12-29-2.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(a)(1) — 6 cases
State v. Russell, 890 A.2d 453 (R.I. 2006).
“” *458 The defendant also argued that subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of § 11-45-1 must be read in conjunction with each other, thereby specifying that, to fall within the provisions of § ll-45-l(a)(l), the behavior, as required in § 11 — 45—1 (a)(2), must be committed in a public…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(a)(3) — 1 case
State v. Thomas H. Matthews, 111 A.3d 390 (R.I. 2015).
“In what was the first of several instances of confusion throughout the pendency of this case regarding the applicable subsection of the disorderly conduct statute, the criminal complaint correctly cites the statute allegedly violated as G.L.1956 § 11-45-1 (a)(3), which is often…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(a)(4) — 5 cases
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(b) — 2 cases
Fratiello v. Mancuso, 653 F. Supp. 775 (D.R.I. 1987).
“Laws 1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 11-45-1. The charge against plaintiff resulted from his alleged use of loud and abusive language, which Officer Rodger claimed was offensive to passersby.”
State v. Pitts, 990 A.2d 185 (R.I. 2010).
“I Facts and Travel The defendant was charged with one count of disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1. 1 A jury trial was held from April 21 through April 23, 2008, at the conclusion of which defendant was convicted.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(c) — 1 case
State v. Martini, 860 A.2d 689 (R.I. 2004).
“Facts and Travel On December 3, 2002, by criminal information filed in Kent County Superior Court, the defendant, Thomas Martini (defendant), was charged with disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1, G.L.1956 § 12-29-5, and § 12-29-2.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1(d) — 1 case
State v. Martini, 860 A.2d 689 (R.I. 2004).
“Facts and Travel On December 3, 2002, by criminal information filed in Kent County Superior Court, the defendant, Thomas Martini (defendant), was charged with disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1, G.L.1956 § 12-29-5, and § 12-29-2.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
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treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.