Safe Havens

(B)  Crimes of Moral Turpitude.[61]

            Escape has traditionally not been considered a crime of moral turpitude.

Board of Immigration Appeals:

Matter of B, 5 I. & N. Dec. 538 (BIA 1953) (conviction of violating § 15-16 of Chapter 268 of the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts (vol. 9) embraces several different types of misconduct, some of which might involve moral turpitude; a conviction of unlawfully aiding one to escape from jail is not a crime involving moral turpitude when there is nothing in the record of conviction which brings the offense within any of the classes of cases which might involve moral turpitude under the statute).

Matter of J, 4 I. & N. Dec. 512 (BIA 1951) (conviction of attempt to escape from reformatory in violation of Chapter 268, § 16 of the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts is “malum prohibitum” and does not involve moral turpitude, since “escape” is not defined by statute and the wording of the statute does not require a specific criminal intent).

Matter of M, 2 I. & N. Dec. 871 (BIA 1947) (conviction of breaking prison, in violation of § 12, Chapter 94, Laws of New Jersey (1931), does not involve moral turpitude since it does not require the element of force or fraud).

Matter of Z, 1 I. & N. Dec. 235 (BIA 1942) (prison breach in violation of § 52-12, New Jersey Compiled Statutes of 1924, does not involve moral turpitude since the offense did not require force or fraud as an essential element).

District Courts:

United States ex rel. Manzella v. Zimmerman, 71 F.Supp. 534 (D.Pa. 1947) (in determining whether offense of breaking prison and escaping involved moral turpitude, the fact that such crime was accomplished without force by merely walking through an open door is immaterial).

[61] See N. Tooby, J. Rollin & J. Foster, Crimes of Moral Turpitude § 9.35 (2005).