crimes

Criminal offenses are those that violate public law. Federal and state laws classify criminal offenses into two different categories: misdemeanors and felonies. Felonies are punishable by more than one year in prison, while misdemeanors are only punishable by one year or less in jail.

Misdemeanors

A crime punished by one year or less of imprisonment.  They usually do not involve the loss of civil rights, but can result in the loss of privileges and can involve county jail and probation.

Felonies

A felony is punishable by more than one year of imprisonment up to death by execution. You have the right to a jury trial.  Felonies include murder, assault, rape, robbery, burglary, manslaughter, kidnapping, arson, aggravated battery, aggravated child abuse, repeat domestic violence, and hit and run among many others.  Theses crimes also involve the loss of civil rights if convicted.

Juvenile Crimes

All criminal charges of children are handled by Juvenile court.  These range from minor misdemeanors to serious felonies.  The state has the option in some matters of filing charges against minors as if they were adults.  There is no jury trial for juvenile charges and the standard of the proceeding is what is “in the best interest of the child” as opposed to criminal proceedings involving an adult.

"It is better, so the Fourth Amendment teaches us,

that the guilty sometimes go free than

the citizens be subject to easy arrest."

Justice William O. Douglas

Source: Henry v. United States, 1959