Is Lewd and Lascivious Behavior a Misdemeanor?

Understanding the various federal and local laws can be important to help you act as expected in society, but knowing these laws can help you appreciate the reasons why you are expected to act that way in the first place.

Lewd and lascivious behavior is most certainly a misdemeanor. However, there are certain varying degrees regarding how exactly certain types of such acts are defined, according to Van Wagner and Wood, s.c. We will outline the different classifications for you in the next section.

Classifications

Class A Misdemeanor

If individuals are exposing their genitals/pubic area in a public place, or if there are engaging in sexual behavior in a public place, then they are guilty of committing lewd and lascivious behavior as a class A misdemeanor. The only exception given for this rule is for women who are breastfeeding their babies in public.

Punishments for a class A misdemeanor do vary by state. However, individuals accused of inadequacies could be fined or sentenced to jail. In certain cases, both types of punishment might be inflicted upon them.

Class C Misdemeanor

If an individual makes any sort of obscene drawing or writing in a public place, then he or she would be accused of lewd and lascivious behavior as a class C misdemeanor. As you may have guessed based upon the names, class C misdemeanors are not considered as severe as class A types.

Once again though, you will find that punishments vary by state. Fines are imposed for class C misdemeanors; however, the amount will be significantly less than for a class A. The fine for the latter might be a few thousand dollars, while the fine for the former might be a few hundred. People generally cannot be put in prison for committing a class C misdemeanor.