Pennsylvania Manual of Civil & Criminal Penalties and Sentences

AUTHORS: Original Edition by BURTON R. LAUB
Revision Editor… ROBERT L. EVANGELISTA
1 Volume, Soft-cover
Published: June 2024 (Issue 47) (Previous Editions: 1956 - 2023)
Most recent supplement/update: N/A
ISBN: 1-887024-23-9

This work provides a finger-tip reference to all civil and criminal penalties sanctioned by Pennsylvania statutory and constitutional law, with at-a-glance detail as to grade of offense, maximum fine and where payable, type and maximum term of imprisonment, second offenses, and details of other penalties, in a convenient tabular format.

Dean Laub's preface to the original edition emphasized the value of a single volume manual that provides a quick reference to all the civil and criminal penalties sanctioned by Pennsylvania constitutional and statutory law. The finger-tip idea used in the revised main table preserves the original format, and provides a ready reference to penalties sanctioned by: (1) the Crimes Code, (2) the Vehicle Code, (3) all other statutes of Pennsylvania and (4) the Pennsylvania Constitution. For convenience and quick reference, the penalties derived from the Crimes Code are shown in bold face type to distinguish them from the civil offenses and penalties which constitute the main bulk of the listings.

The governing statutes are cited to the Pamphlet Laws and Purdon's Statutes. Where appropriate, citations to the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are given. Judges, district justices, clerks of court, other judicial officers and attorneys may discover at a glance where an offense may be found in the statute books, its grade and the range of fines or imprisonment sanctioned and the person entitled to receive any fine imposed.

The Manual can be useful also to a lawyer contemplating or engaged in a civil cause of action involving the breach of a statute. It was decided in Jinks v. Currie, 324 Pa. 532, 538, 188 A. 356, 358 (1936), in accord with the Restatement, Torts 2nd sec. 286, that the violation of a penal statute may constitute negligence per se, and in Fisher v. Hill, 362 Pa. 286, 289, 66 A.2d 275, 277 (1949), it was pointed out that a violation of a mandatory provision of The Vehicle Code is such negligence. It is therefore important that every lawyer interested in the trial of negligence cases should have ready access to a quick method of determining whether or not certain conduct may be in violation of a criminal statute. Since the rule is not restricted to The Vehicle Code alone, it is important that all criminal statutes be readily discoverable in order that trial lawyers may have citations ready to submit to the court prior to the charge or at the time of arguments for a directed verdict, judgment N.O.V. or for a new trial. It is intended that the present work supply a wellspring for use in such a fashion. Also, it should be noted that a number of criminal statutes provide civil penalties of create a civil cause of action in addition to imposing criminal sanctions.

Because the reasons for the inclusion of certain data in the tables which constitute the main body of this work are not always apparent, a short text has been added as an aid to those who desire a further check. All pertinent statutes relating to the subject matter contained in the tables have been cited in the text, and representative decisional law is also contained therein.