Felony Vs. Misdemanor

By definition a felony is to be considered the most serious type of criminal activity and each of the states have a different way of punishing these types of offenses. The standard definition of felony is any type of crime that can be punishable with more than a year in prison or punishable by the death penalty for the capital offenses such as murder in the first degree. Compared to a misdemeanor the defendant can be convicted of a felony and serve their time in a state or federal prison instead of a local jail. In additional criminal activity the procedures that apply for the felony and the right to a court appointed lawyer; this is if the defendant is unable to afford a lawyer on their own. Another classification of a felony is when the defendant has to appear in court for their charges. By definition a misdemeanor is a little more serious than a petty offense but it carries a lesser charge than the felony. The misdemeanor is normally a result of an imposition of punishments as well as a hefty fine along with a jail sentence for less than a year; this is verses the fines for a petty offense. When there is a jail sentence ordered by the courts then this sentence time should be served in a local, city or county jail instead of a state or federal prison.

When you look at the fundamental views of the differences between a felony and a misdemeanor it is determined by the penalty and the amount of imprisonment that can be sentenced to a person. The main difference between a felony and a misdemeanor is the decision of whether the person is convicted of a certain type of criminal behavior that warrants a specific time of jail sentence but it is also determined by a person's punishment for a particular length of time that they will be spending in an instillation whether it be prison or just jail. There are some states that maintain a death penalty for all criminal activity that is classified as a felony but there are some states for example New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island that have their penalties for a felony to be punishable by more than just a single year in a jail. States like Arizona and Wisconsin have their felony punishment set at imprisonment in state prison or penitentiary.

The misdemeanor is typically a criminal activity that is only punishable by a year or less in prison or a county jail. California has an alternative felony or misdemeanor criminal activity state of fact known as the wobblers. A wobbler is a criminal activity that can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances around the criminal behavior. The wobbler can also be charged as a felony but then reduced to a misdemeanor by the sentencing courts when they are pursuant to a statute. There are several states that also have a thing called the infractions; this is when there is an act that is against the law but it is only punishable with a fine for example a traffic violation is the most common form of infractions.

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