Felony is a legal term. When anyone breaks the lawful statutes of a country, then he may be termed as a criminal punished. We have different statutes for different crimes and to help our law enforcers, for example, a burglary or a homicide are both different crimes. Any crime, which calls for a punishment of confinement or imprisonment for a year and more, is called a felony whereas if the sentence is confinement for a period less than a year, then the offence is a misdemeanor. Hence, major crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, rape etc. are felonies, although the period of punishment or incarceration period may differ from case to case. Dictionary.com defines felony as “a grave offense such as a murder or burglary, of graver character than those called misdemeanors,especially those commonly punished in the U.S. by imprisonment for more than a year”(Dictionary.com)
We now know what felony is but we have again come up against a wall. Felony includes a plethora of offences. We should have a system, which says that this felony is more severe than the other and vice versa. Where a felony is concerned, depending upon the severity of the crime, the model Penal Code provides for four different types of Felony. These are as follows
- Capital Offense : Here the sentence is a temporary sojourn in death-row, followed by execution.
- First degree Felony: Crime committed serious enough for life-imprisonment.
- Second degree Felony : Punishable up to 10 years
- Third degree Felony: Punishable but for a maximum period of five (5) years imprisonment. It should be noted here that crime committed can fall under state boundaries or else it can be a federal crime. As regards states, different rules may be applicable from state to state, due to various reasons local in nature. In North Carolina, felonies carry an incarceration period of two years, for example.(Cross,145)
Civil and Criminal cases
We have been taking the term “criminal” all along the essay which the layman may find difficult to comprehend. Imprisonment can be from civil cases too. Insider trading, embezzlement of funds etc. are white-collar crimes, arising from civil suits can also sentence a guilty person to jail. These crimes are non-violent type and do not involve violence via which, these crimes may become misdemeanors, maybe limited to paying of a fine. The key word here is maybe. A legal system cannot have two different sentencing methods. The crime may be insider trading, but whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony depends entirely upon the magnitude of the crime.
Disenfranchisement of ex-felons
One very controversial law, revoked to some extents in different states is the disenfranchisement of ex-felons. In other words, people and citizens who have served time in prison for felony are not allowed to vote again ever after. The proponents of this theory mainly argue on two points as under.
Disenfranchisement acts as a deterrent. Among its advocates, a few even claim that disenfranchisement encourages rehabilitation, presumably by motivating ex-felons to adopt so responsible a lifestyle that even the least charitable clemency board will see fit to reinstate their voting privileges. Another theory says that in their very actions, ex-felons have shown their incapacity to be trusted. They say that just as a pedophile is forbidden to teach in schools, ex-prisoners are denied purchase and use of hand guns, similarly ex-felons should not be allowed to vote.(Hull, 43-50). Here the main error in conception lies in presuming that ex-felons do not want to integrate back back into the society. Once they are not allowed to vote, we create classes in society between people, due to which ex-cons find it difficult to reenter the social fabric.
TRENDS IN FELONY
What is the answer? Will America always be prone to more felony then misdemeanor? We can only procure data to carry out some research.We refer to California’s famous (notorious?) “three strikes and you are out” statute. What this means is that an offender is given only three chances. The first time he is arrested, he is treated like any other felon.
The second time he is given more time and told About the three strikes concept. (This actually comes from Baseball. The batter missing three consecutive pitches from the pitcher, is out). The third time, he can be imprisoned for life. As the histograms above show, there is a considerable difference between projected and actuals. Maybe this is the solution in our quest for a society whose pillars stand on ethics and not human predators, as it is now in most states of the country.
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Works Cited:
- Dictionary.com; < > Available at and accessed on 08/12/2012
- Hull Elizabeth A.; Disenfranchisement of Ex-Felons; Philadelphia, PA, USA: Temple University Press, 2006. p 44 Philadelphia, PA, USA..print
- Cross Frank B.; West’s Legal Environment for Business: Text and Cases; Thomsons Higher Education, Mason, Ohio, 2007, pg 145-pg152
- Zimring Franklin E., Punishment & Democracy: Three strikes and you’re out in California; Oxford University Press, 2008, p-77.print
