Can anyone receive and aliya?

Q:  Can any Jew receive an aliya?

A: Jews who have gone the wrong way in the eyes of Jewish law are not forbidden by halacha from being called up to the Torah.  A sinner can be given and given an aliya (after all, who among us is free sin?).

The particular sin, or crime, may have some bearing on the merit of a person being honored with an aliya. For example, public larceny is so much harder to ignore then a private misdemeanor. In some communities, those who have been found guilty of a crime would be barred from ascending the bima.  Who’s who had participated in an overt negative Jewish behavior which simile be disbarred from an aliya as a protest against such behavior, such as an adulterer, one who has deliberately strayed from their roots, or a person it was publicly gone against the teachings of Judaism.

However, once a person has been accepted as a member of a community it would be a “shame” to not call such an individual up for an aliya when they are observing a yahrzeit.