Two common definitions of a status offense or status crime are
1. A status offense is an action that is prohibited only to a certain class of people, and most often applied to offenses only committed by minors.
2. In the United States, the term status offense refers to an offense such as a traffic violation where motive is not a consideration in determining guilt. In the United Kingdom and Europe, this type of status offense may be termed a regulatory offense.
Famous quotes containing the words status and/or offense:
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“When offense occurred, Slaughter took the trail, and seldom returned with a live prisoner. Usually he reported that he had chased the suspect “clean out of the county”; these suspects never reappeared in Tombstone—or anywhere else.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)