Am I required to disclose and submit an addendum? Forum

[Spbona]

Back in 2016 when I was 19, I was ticketed by a police officer for using a fake ID. I was not under arrest and it was equivalent to a traffic ticket. My ticket ended up being reduced to a parked on pavement non-moving violation. Do I need to write an addendum to talk about this incident?

[QContinuum]

Read the C&F questions very carefully. If there is any doubt about whether you should disclose, err on the side of disclosure. My instinct is that you will likely be required to disclose the citation, as C&F questions are usually worded very broadly. However, you will likely only need to disclose the citation you actually received (i.e., the parked on pavement non-moving violation). If you were never cited for using a fake ID, then that is obviously not a disclosable "citation."

I would not recommend writing an addendum for a parked on pavement violation, which sounds extremely minor. (To confirm, you were just issued a ticket, right? You weren't actually arrested/booked into jail?)

[Spbona]

Read the C&F questions very carefully. If there is any doubt about whether you should disclose, err on the side of disclosure. My instinct is that you will likely be required to disclose the citation, as C&F questions are usually worded very broadly. However, you will likely only need to disclose the citation you actually received (i.e., the parked on pavement non-moving violation). If you were never cited for using a fake ID, then that is obviously not a disclosable "citation."

I would not recommend writing an addendum for a parked on pavement violation, which sounds extremely minor. (To confirm, you were just issued a ticket, right? You weren't actually arrested/booked into jail?)

It was a traffic infraction, I was not actually arrested. It was originally a ticket for possession a false identification and it was reduced to a parked on pavement non-moving violation which was only a minor fine.

[QContinuum]

It was a traffic infraction, I was not actually arrested. It was originally a ticket for possession a false identification and it was reduced to a parked on pavement non-moving violation which was only a minor fine.

I dug out one of my old applications. The relevant C&F question read: "Have you ever, either as an adult or a juvenile, been cited, arrested, charged with, indicted, convicted or tried for, or pleaded guilty to, the commission of any felony or misdemeanor or the violation of any law, except minor parking violations, or been the subject of any juvenile delinquency or youthful offender proceeding?"

This is extremely broad language. My opinion is that this would require disclosure of your original ticket for possessing a fake ID. Obviously, this might raise a yellow/red flag in adcoms' eyes, as it indicates a lack of candor.

The C&F question's verbiage may have changed between when I applied and now. It may also vary between different law schools. More importantly, I am not a C&F attorney, nor am I your attorney. I strongly recommend consulting with a C&F attorney in the jurisdiction(s) where you intend to practice law, and/or a professional law school admissions consultant, for advice as to how best to proceed, and what your chances are of being admitted to the bar (assuming you're admitted to, and graduate from, law school). I think this is above TLS' paygrade.

Best of luck.