# What's a "morals charge"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-morals-charge/412421>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 19, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-morals-charge/412421 "2007-07-19T17:46:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LtnJck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@LtnJck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LtnJck)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-morals-charge/412421/1 "2007-07-19T17:46:37Z")

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I was watching an episode of Mama’s Family and Mama said “The man was run out of town on a morals charge.” What the heck is or was a morals charge. Was it an actual legal thing or more like a lynching type or mob justice type of thing?

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**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-morals-charge/412421/2 "2007-07-19T18:01:19Z")

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It varied, to some extent. It referred to a group of crimes whose commission was supposed to suggest moral turpitude. The term still comes up in licensing statutes and some kinds of contracts. Here is a modern statutory definition:

> [@](#):
>
> (k) “Morals Charge” includes charges of prostitution, patronizing a prostitute, promoting prostitution, indecent exposure, lewd and lascivious behavior, sodomy, promoting sodomy for hire, patronizing a Person offering sodomy for hire, sexual battery, loitering for the purposes of solicitation, indecent liberties with a child, incest, adultery, promoting obscenity, promoting obscenity to minors, displaying material harmful to minors, and possession, sale or distribution of any illegal drug.

[http://www.derbyinformer.com/legals.htm](http://www.derbyinformer.com/legals.htm)

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**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-morals-charge/412421/3 "2007-07-19T18:04:08Z")

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I would imagine it is any of a group of offenses which have a public morals element. It could have been public indecency, lewdness, prostitution, something pornography related, drugs, corrupting a minor, sexual assault, maybe gambling, or something like that.

Edit: Or what Gfactor said.