Crimes of Moral Turpitude
Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States that refers to "conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals".
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). The presence of moral turpitude is determined by the nature of the statutory offense for which the alien was convicted, and not by the acts underlying the conviction.
Defining Moral Turpitude
Statutory definitions of crimes in the United States consist of various elements, which must be met before a conviction can be supported. Some of these elements have been determined in judicial or administrative decisions to involve moral turpitude. A conviction for a statutory offense will involve moral turpitude if one or more of the elements of that offense have been determined to involve moral turpitude. The most common elements involving moral turpitude are:
- Fraud;
- Larceny; and
- Intent to harm persons or things.
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.
Specific offenses that the U.S. government and courts have determined to be CIMT
- animal fighting
- involuntary manslaughter, in some cases
- mayhem
- fraud, and
- conspiracy, attempt, or acting as an accessory to a crime if that crime involved moral turpitude
- theft
- rape
- spousal abuse
- child abuse
- incest
- murder
- voluntary manslaughter
- kidnaping
- robbery
- aggravated assault