legal penalty
Sentence from judge
A legal penalty is a punishment imposed by law for committing a crime or violating a regulation.
Penalties range from fines and community service to imprisonment and, in some jurisdictions, death.
The term also covers civil consequences like license revocation or mandatory restitution: The legal penalty for drunk driving includes loss of your license.
Distinguished from informal consequences, legal penalties require governmental authority to impose.
- imprisonmentLegal detention in jail
- forfeitureLoss due to breach
- fineAcceptable in quality
- debarmentFormal exclusion from privilege
- mulctFine or swindle
license suspension · probation · restitution · house arrest · ankle monitor · banishment · penalization · court order · exile · damages · punitive damages · parole · community service · three strikes · injunctions · sanctions · jail · time served
- infidelityadultery, affair, adulteress, cheating, cheater
legal penaltyreward
Payment for service
prize · bonus · incentive · compensation · bounty
legal penaltyacquittal
Formal clearing of charges
exoneration · pardon · absolution · vindication · clemency
legal penaltyimmunity
Protected from harm
legal immunity · protection · legal protection · exemption · privilege