Are people in the USA obligated to report crime?

Question

Are you legally obligated to report crime in the USA? If it comes out in court proceedings that you knew about a crime and did not report it, does it incriminate you?

Answer 1

There are some crimes that it is a duty to report under some circumstances under federal law and under the respective state laws, and there are other crimes which it is not a duty to report. The general rule is that there is not a duty to report a crime, but there are significant exceptions.

Selected Federal Laws

There is an affirmative duty under federal law to report treason. This law states:

§2382. Misprision of treason

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.

There may be a small number of additional duties to report federal crimes, but these are very rare in federal law.

In general, there are far more crimes which there is a duty to report under state law than there are under federal law.

Selected State Laws

There is considerable state to state variation in the duty to report crimes which is not susceptible to being easily summarized in a Law.SE answer.

In most states, certain mandatory reporters, such as school officials and nurses, have a duty to report suspected abuse that they witness, generally of a student or patient. For example, Any person specified in Colorado Revised Statutes § 19-3-304 (part of Colorado's "Children's Code") is by law a mandatory reporter in Colorado.

If you are involved a serious vehicular accident you are required to report it, or at least to exchange your registration and insurance information with the other people involved. See, e.g., Colorado Revised Statutes § 42-4-1603.

In the wake of the Kitty Genovese case, a murder in 1964 witnessed by dozens of people but not reported, many states have enacted laws requiring people who witness certain violent crimes that are in progress to report them.

For example, in Texas, which has a particularly broad and comprehensive duty to report statute:

Texas Penal Code § 38.171 makes it a crime to fail to immediately report a felony you observe, if a reasonable person would believe the victim would suffer death or serious bodily injury and you don’t have reason to believe it has already been reported. This requirement only applies if you can immediately report it without putting yourself in danger.

In most U.S. states, unlike Texas, the duty to report is more piecemeal and does not apply to all felonies. Often it applies only to serious violent crimes that are in progress. And, not all U.S. states have these laws.

Many states also primarily impose duties to report crimes in the context of some sort of special relationship between the person with the duty to report and some aspect of the crime (the victim, the perpetrator, the location of the crime, etc.).

For example, there is a legal duty in many states for a law enforcement officer present at the scene of law enforcement action to report certain kinds of crimes related to civil rights violations, by fellow law enforcement officers at the scene.

In Colorado, the broadest state law duty to report crimes is as follows:

Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-8-115. Duty to report a crime--liability for disclosure

It is the duty of every corporation or person who has reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed to report promptly the suspected crime to law enforcement authorities. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, a corporation or person may disclose information concerning a suspected crime to other persons or corporations for the purpose of giving notice of the possibility that other such criminal conduct may be attempted which may affect the persons or corporations notified. When acting in good faith, such corporation or person shall be immune from any civil liability for such reporting or disclosure. This duty shall exist notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary; except that this section shall not require disclosure of any communication privileged by law.

This statute doesn't actually impose any criminal penalty for failing to obey it, despite the fact that it is part of Colorado's criminal law statutes. Instead, the duty is intended primarily as a defense to civil liability or other legal consequences (like employment termination) for someone who does report a crime, since it was their civic duty to do so.

This statute also expressly states the important exception which is present in every state, but often not expressly stated, that people who learn of a crime in a privileged conversation such as an attorney-client communication, or a confession made to a priest, don't have a duty to report a crime (except in very extreme exigent circumstances of a crime in progress). Indeed, often in those circumstances, it is illegal to report a crime discovered in that way.

Duties To Rescue Compared

In contrast, duties to rescue or intervene to help a crime victim beyond reporting a crime a much more rare, and involve much more limited circumstances. The only U.S. state that imposes a general duty to rescue for which there is civil liability if the duty is breached is Vermont. It's law, passed in 1967, was also a response to the Kitty Genovese case. Minnesota has a similar law enacted in 1983 (citations to the statutes are available at the linked law review article).

Answer 2

Why didn't you report the crime?

ORS Chapter 398 398.306 Accessory after fact.

Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent the apprehension, trial or punishment of the offender shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. [1961 c.454 154]

Answer 3

Not usually. The First Amendment generally protects your freedom to speak about the existence of a crime, as well as your freedom to not speak about the existence of a crime.

There are several exceptions, most notably in the form of "mandated reporter" laws, which do require people in certain positions of trust (doctors, teachers) to report evidence of child abuse, though I don't know whether those laws have ever faced a constitutional challenge.

Answer 4

Some people (doctors, teachers, social workers, foster parents, etc.) qualify as mandatory reporters and must report even suspicion of crimes against minors, elderly or vulnerable adults. There are consequences for failure to report such instances.