public nuisance
Neighborhood's chronic problem
A public nuisance is conduct or a condition that interferes with the rights of the general community—blocking a road, polluting a waterway, operating a disorderly establishment.
The term also describes a person who makes themselves obnoxious to others: He kept interrupting the meeting and making himself a public nuisance.
In law, public nuisances can be enjoined or prosecuted by public authorities, distinguishing them from private nuisances affecting only specific individuals.
- trespassingUnauthorized presence on property
- vandalismWillful property damage
- loiteringPurposeless public lingering
- open containerReceptacle without a lid
- disorderly conductCriminal public disturbance charge
common law · panhandling · statute · injunction · cease and desist · blight · tort · abatement · plaintiff · liability · misdemeanor · unlawful assembly · ordinance · breach of peace · pollution · community standards · quality of life · neighborhood watch
- crimesarson, burglary, robbery, kidnapping, vandalism
- Infractionsjaywalking, littering, loitering, speeding, trespassing
- misdemeanorsmisdemeanor, petty theft, disorderly conduct, petty larceny, shoplifting
- public disturbancesriot, disorderly conduct, brawl, disturbing the peace, breach of peace
- public offensesriot, affray, disorderly conduct, breach of peace, unlawful assembly
- public orderriot, breach of peace, disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, civil unrest
public nuisancepublic benefit
Good for society overall
pillar of the community · public servant · good citizen · public good · good neighbor