Perjury is the criminal offense of making a false statement under oath—verbally or in writing—that the witness knows to be false and that is material to the proceeding in which the statement is made. And suborning perjury or subornation of perjury is the criminal offense of procuring the perjury of another person.
Perjury is a criminal offense under both state and federal laws and may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or as a felony offense, depending on the state or federal jurisdiction, and whether there are any aggravating factors that increase the seriousness of the crime. Perjury laws are located in state statutes—often in the penal or criminal code—and the federal perjury law is located in the United States Code at 18 U.S.C. §1621.
In Ohio, perjury is defined as knowingly making a false statement under oath or affirmation, or swearing or affirming the truth of a statement previously made, when the statement is material to the proceeding at hand. This is outlined in the Ohio Revised Code Section 2921.11. Perjury in Ohio is typically considered a felony of the third degree. If the false statement is made with the purpose to mislead a public official in performing their duty, it may be prosecuted as a felony of the fifth degree. Subornation of perjury, which involves inducing or procuring another person to commit perjury, is also a criminal offense and is treated with similar severity as perjury itself. The federal law against perjury can be found at 18 U.S.C. §1621, and it similarly criminalizes the act of willfully making false statements under oath in federal proceedings, with penalties that can include fines and imprisonment. The specific classification of the offense and the associated penalties can vary depending on the circumstances and the jurisdiction in which the offense is prosecuted.
