Felonies
Felonies are classified as serious criminal offenses that typically carry more severe consequences than misdemeanors. Defined by federal guidelines, a felony is any crime punishable by death or imprisonment for over one year. Examples of felonies include grave offenses such as murder, rape, and armed robbery, while misdemeanors encompass less serious crimes like disorderly conduct. Legal systems in most states categorize felonies and misdemeanors based on the location of incarceration; felonies are usually punished by time in state prisons, while misdemeanors result in local jail time.
Court systems handle felonies and misdemeanors differently, with felony cases being processed in county courts or courts of general jurisdiction, whereas misdemeanors are managed by local courts. The complexity of felony cases can lead to lengthy legal proceedings involving multiple stages, from pretrial to post-trial. Historically, the term "felony" has roots in Latin and can be traced back to feudal law in England, where it was associated with serious breaches of legal obligations leading to severe penalties. Despite the evolution of legal definitions, the distinction between felonies and misdemeanors remains a significant aspect of the criminal justice system in the United States.
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Felonies
Criminal offenses are often grouped into two major categories, felonies and misdemeanors, which indicate the seriousness of the crime. Misdemeanors are less serious offenses, such as disorderly conduct; felonies are more serious crimes, such as murder, rape, and armed robbery. Federal guidelines define a felony as any crime “punishable by death or by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” Most states maintain similar definitions, although some states classify crimes according to the place of incarceration for offenders. If incarceration is to be in a state prison, the offense is a felony; if it is punishable by a term in a local jail, it is considered a misdemeanor. (There are further complications in some areas; in Michigan, a few misdemeanors are deemed serious enough to warrant time in a state penitentiary.) In some jurisdictions an offense may be considered either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on a number of factors. Larceny (theft), for example, may be classified as a felony (grand larceny) if the value of the item or items stolen is sufficiently high or as a misdemeanor (petty larceny) if their value is relatively small.
Most states maintain separate court systems for felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are tried in county courts, or courts of general jurisdiction; misdemeanors are handled by local courts with limited jurisdiction. By far, most criminal cases are handled by local (minor) courts, partly because so many charges are only misdemeanors and partly because felony charges are sometimes reduced to misdemeanor charges before a trial begins. Because the charges and punishments meted out to convicted felony offenders are significantly more serious, the handling of felony cases by the courts is much more complex than the handling of misdemeanors. Felony cases involve pretrial, trial, and post-trial proceedings, and they can take a year or more.
In 1963, in the landmark case Gideon v. Wainwright, the US Supreme Court held that defendants charged with serious crimes must be provided with a state-appointed attorney if they cannot afford to hire their own attorney. At first this requirement was applied only to felony cases, but in Argersinger v. Hamlin (1973) the Court extended the protection to people accused of misdemeanors if the misdemeanor charge could result in imprisonment.
The exact origin of the term “felony” is unknown, but many scholars trace it to the Latin words felonia and fallere, meaning “to deceive.” In England, a felony originally was a breach of the feudal bond that would result in the either temporary or permanent forfeiture of the guilty party’s assets. Gradually the definition expanded. In the twelfth century, Henry II attempted to codify the laws of the realm, and he established forfeiture as one of the penalties for murder, theft, forgery, arson, and other similar criminal acts. Soon all crimes punishable in England by forfeiture of property (eventually abolished in 1870), physical mutilation, burning, or death were considered felonies. In 1967, England replaced the former distinctions with the categories of arrestable and nonarrestable offenses, but the felony/misdemeanor distinction remains important in the United States.
Bibliography
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Manza, Jeff, and Christopher Uggen. Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.