infamy

infamy, public disgrace or loss of reputation, particularly as a consequence of criminal conviction. In early common law, conviction for an infamous crime resulted in disqualification to testify as a witness. The criterion for considering a crime infamous was whether or not it stamped the offender as untrustworthy. The concept was, therefore, at first limited to so-called crimen falsi, originally perjury, but was extended to any crime involving fraud or corruption. Eventually, all felonies came to be treated as infamous. Testimonial incompetency for infamy, however, has been abolished by statute in England and generally in the United States as well.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires grand jury indictment for any “capital or otherwise infamous crime.” Infamy, for this purpose, depends on the character of the punishment that may be imposed rather than on the nature of the crime. In general, any crime punishable by imprisonment in a state penitentiary is infamous, and any federal crime that may be punished by imprisonment for more than a year is also an infamous crime.