{"id":25578,"date":"2026-03-31T11:13:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/?p=25578"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:13:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:13:25","slug":"is-pushing-someone-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Pushing Someone Assault? What Maine Law Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Is Pushing Considered Assault?<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left; margin: 0 20px 10px 0; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/John-Webb-Headshot.png\" alt=\"Professional headshot of attorney John Webb in dark suit and blue tie against brick background.\" width=\"250\" align=\"left\" \/><br \/>\nYes, pushing someone can legally constitute assault under Maine law. You do not need to throw a punch or cause visible injury. A single shove &#8211; if intentional or reckless &#8211; is enough to result in criminal charges, arrest, and a permanent record.<\/p>\n<p>Maine defines <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.maine.gov\/statutes\/17-A\/title17-Asec207.html\">assault<\/a> as intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury or offensive physical contact to another person. The key phrase is &#8220;offensive physical contact.&#8221; A push that leaves no bruise, no scratch, and no lasting mark still meets this legal standard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading Is Pushing Someone Assault? What Maine Law Says\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is Pushing Considered Assault? Yes, pushing someone can legally constitute assault under Maine law. You do not need to throw a punch or cause visible injury. A single shove &#8211; if intentional or reckless &#8211; is enough to result in criminal charges, arrest, and a permanent record. Maine defines assault as intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","category-domestic-violence"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Pushing Someone Assault in Maine?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is pushing someone assault in Maine? Learn when it&#039;s a crime, penalties &amp; your legal rights. Get expert guidance now.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Is Pushing Someone Assault in Maine?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Is pushing someone assault in Maine? Learn when it&#039;s a crime, penalties &amp; your legal rights. 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Get expert guidance now.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Webb Law Firm","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/","url":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/","name":"Is Pushing Someone Assault in Maine?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/is-pushing-someone-assault\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","datePublished":"2026-03-31T15:13:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2a779c0cfb58df839ae19364412f5dc6"},"description":"Is pushing someone assault in Maine? 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