Felony

A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a "very serious" crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious.

The United States

In many jurisdictions of the U.S., a felony is any offense carrying a potential penalty of more than one year in prison. An offense carrying a lesser sentence is usually a misdemeanor. In Massachusetts, on the other hand, a felony is any offense which carries any prison time.http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/274-1.htm Some states have done away with the felony/misdemeanor classification. For example, New Jersey designates offenses as first degree through fourth degree. A third degree offense is punishable by six months to eighteen months in jail.

Related Topics:
Massachusetts - New Jersey - Jail

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U.S. jurisdictions retaining the distinction between a felony and a misdemeanor, sometimes divide felonies into classes, e.g. class A felony, class B felony, etc.

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A civil sanction imposed on U.S. citizens convicted of a felony includes the loss of competence to serve on a grand or petit jury or to vote in elections even after release from prison. While controversial, these disabilities are explicitly sanctioned by the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a Reconstruction-era amendment that deals with permissible state regulation of voting rights. However the convicted person may regain his ability to serve as a juror and vote as part of a general restoration of civil rights following completion of sentence. In addition, convicted felons are prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms, a sanction which is not usually remitted upon completion of sentence, but which may be annulled by a pardon of the offense.

Related Topics:
Jury - Fifteenth Amendment - Reconstruction - Civil rights - Pardon

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Theoretically, federal law allows persons convicted of felonies in a federal United States district court to apply to have their record expunged. However, the U.S. Congress has refused to fund the federal agency mandated with handling the applications of convicted felons to have their record expunged. This means that, in practice, federal felons cannot have their records expunged.

Related Topics:
United States district court - U.S. Congress

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See also

• three strikes law