Arizona's Most Irritating Statute?

There are a number of laws in Arizona that bother me, but the one that most consistently makes me shake my head in disgust is A.R.S. 13-1207. It provides that an inmate who “commits assault upon another person with the intent to to incite riot or who participates in a riot is guilty of a class 2 felony.” It’s a serious charge, so it seems like the statute should be pretty well written. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

Although making it a class 2 felony seems excessive, I think I have a good grasp of what constitutes an assault with intent to incite riot. On the other hand, I have no clue what participating in a riot means, and the legislature and the courts haven’t provided any helpful definitions.

Is there an intent element to participating in a riot, or can you inadvertently participate in a riot? Do you need to know it’s a riot? What constitutes a riot anyway? Who gets to decide if something is a riot? Should we look to the chapter 29 riot statute? What counts as participation?

It seems unfair that someone who’s being unruly could for the same conduct get anywhere from a misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction to a class 2 felony conviction depending on the context. Without any definitions to narrow the statute, I think a jury could find pretty much any prison incident to be riot and consider anything other than hiding in your cell to be participating. Statutes shouldn’t be that vague, especially when mandatory prison times is involved.