Dunagan v. Bureau of Prof. &
Occup. Affairs – Cmwlth. Court – unreported* memorandum opinion – April 10,
2019
One
who commits disorderly conduct by, for example, persisting in making “an
unreasonable noise,” 18 Pa.C.S. §5503(a)(2), or using “obscene language,” id.
§5503(a)(3), has not committed a crime of moral turpitude with the requisite
reprehensible state of mind under 63 P.S.
§666(a)(5). Moreover, disorderly conduct, even graded as
a third degree misdemeanor, is wholly unlike the crimes which this Court has
previously deemed crimes of moral turpitude, such as mail fraud, theft by
deception, conspiracy to possess and distribute controlled substances, etc. See
Krystal Jeep; Foose; Startzel; Yurick. Thus, because there are numerous
iterations of disorderly conduct wherein the actor cannot be said to have
committed a crime of moral turpitude, the Board erred in suspending
Petitioner’s practical nursing license for six months based upon her nolo
contendere plea to disorderly conduct. Accordingly, the order of the Board is
reversed
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*An unreported
Commonwealth Court case may not be cited binding precedent but can be cited for
its persuasive value. See 210 Pa.
Code § 69.414(b) and Pa. R.A.P.
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