Misdemeanors vs. Felonies

by Kelly M. Glenn

A crime is an illegal act or omission that is punishable by law.  It can be categorized in several ways, but here we’re going to discuss crimes as either misdemeanors or felonies.

Simply put, a misdemeanor is a minor offense, while a felony is more serious, but it definitely gets more complicated than that.  Often, misdemeanors include non-violent offenses, but this is not a hard and fast rule! For example, assault and battery is violent, but unless it reaches the level of inflicting a serious and/or permanent injury, it’s usually a misdemeanor.  And, while felonies typically include violent crimes, like those assault and batteries that result in a serious and/or permanent injury, there are also exceptions here, such as grand larceny. Grand larceny isn’t violent, but because it’s more serious than a petty larceny, it is considered a felony.

Let’s look at a short scenario involving “Jack” before we move on:

Jack is a waiter at a popular restaurant in town.  He gets paid a few dollars an hour but doesn’t see an actual paycheck because taxes on his tips usually zeroes out his hourly wage.  That’s okay, though, because he gets pretty decent tips. He also supplements his tips with a dollar or two off of his co-workers’ tables when they are not looking.  In his mind, this is okay because he’s always bringing their customers a refill here or an extra sauce there. Nevermind that they do the same for him when his customers ask.  

One day, a co-worker sees Jack stealing tips off of the table of another waiter and confronts him in the parking lot after work.  Jack gets defensive and starts yelling at his accuser. As the argument heats up, Jack finally pushes his co-worker to the ground.  The next day, the accuser tells his manager what happened, and when the manager asks Jack about it, Jack punches the manager in the face so hard that the manager loses two teeth.  The injury requires stitches and considerable oral surgery to repair.  

Of course, Jack lost his job, but there’s a bigger price Jack should pay for what he’s done.  Let’s see how Jack can be held accountable in the criminal justice system and why it matters where Jack committed his crimes…

This is important because states are sovereign, which means that each one classifies its offenses as misdemeanors or felonies according to legislation adopted by their own state governments.  For this reason, punishments for the same crime may also vary state to state depending upon how each state classifies that offense.  

In our scenario, Jack has committed several crimes within the same state.  In fact, he committed several crimes on grounds of the same business property, but let’s focus on the assault and battery against his co-worker first.  When Jack shoved his co-worker in the parking lot, it was unwanted physical contact, and even though it didn’t result in any injury, it was still a crime.  Most states are going to classify that unwanted physical contact without injury as a misdemeanor assault and battery.  

With that said, intent can be difficult to prove in these cases.  In our scenario, can we be sure that Jack intended to knock his manager’s teeth out, or did he simply “get the right angle” on his manager?  One state might charge Jack with a misdemeanor assault and battery, while another state might consider the level of the manager’s injuries enough to meet the elements of a felony aggravated assault/malicious wounding.  Yet, another state might require hard proof of actual intent, or mens rea, in addition to the existence of a serious and/or permanent injury.

Again, the way states classify their crimes as misdemeanors or felonies matter because those classifications determine penalties.  To further complicate matters, each state has varying levels of misdemeanors and felonies, each with their own range of possible penalties.  

To keep it simple, let’s take a look at the general differences in penalties in the broader category of just misdemeanors and felonies…

Misdemeanor convictions can carry with them a penalty of less than a year in jail, and “less than a year” is specifically 364 days or less. Felony convictions, however, can result in a sentence of a year or more in a state or federal prison.  Felony sentences can range all the way up to life in prison, or even death.  

It’s important to note that there is a difference between jails and prisons.  Jails are overseen by local law enforcement agencies, with some being considered “regional” facilities run by a collective group of local agencies.   Prisons, on the other hand, are run by the state or federal government. Some are also privately owned but enter into cooperative agreements with state and federal governments.

In addition to jail time or prison time, penalties can include fines.  These also vary by state, depending upon how the crime is classified and at what level.  A misdemeanor assault and battery penalty in one state may include up to a $250 fine, while in a neighboring state, the exact same crime and conviction can cost an offender $500.  Felonies carry much higher fines. For example, a 3rd Offense DUI penalty in one state might carry with it a fine of $5,000, and in another state, the offender might incur a $10,000 fine.

Additionally, combinations of fines and jail/prison time also exist and vary state to state.  Technically, depending upon the state in which Jack shoved his co-worker, he could serve up to 364 days in the local jail and possibly a fine, as well.  If Jack were to be convicted of a felony for the incident with his manager, he could serve a year or more in a state prison and possibly pay a larger fine.  Finally, Jack could also be charged with both incidents, resulting in a misdemeanor conviction and a felony conviction with penalties being imposed for each offense!    

Other forms of punishment that can also be utilized at sentencing are probation, parole, community service, and restitution.  Jack could, in addition to fines and jail/prison time, be sentenced to pay restitution to any victim that suffered a financial loss due to his crime(s).  His manager incurred the expense of medical bills to treat his injuries and fix his teeth. Jack could be ordered to pay those bills as a form of restitution.  

Finally, before we can conclude our comparison of misdemeanors versus felonies, we cannot overlook the circumstances in which some misdemeanors convert to felonies if an offender repeatedly commits the same misdemeanor.  Most often, misdemeanors that convert to a felony charge require at least two prior misdemeanor convictions for that same offense occur within a specific time period. Examples of misdemeanors that can convert to felonies on the third offense include petty larceny, domestic assault and battery, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI/DUID).  Often, the third offense must happen within five or ten years of the previous conviction for it to be considered a felony.

To demonstrate how this works, let’s revisit our scenario with Jack:

The waiter that Jack got caught stealing from decided to charge Jack with petty larceny.   He was convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to pay restitution in the amount of the stolen tips, as well as a $250 fine to be paid to the court.  Five months later, Jack got caught stealing a $125 bottle of top shelf liquor from the bar of a different restaurant. The manager pursued a petty larceny charge against him.  Again, he was convicted of a misdemeanor, had to pay $125 in restitution to the manager, and had to pay a $350 fine. When Jack decided that working in restaurants was simply not for him, he moved on to work at a convenience store, where he was caught on tape taking $60 cash from his till.  Come on, Jack! The owner of the store charged him with his third petty larceny, which converted to a felony.  

Like Jack, some people never learn, and these types of misdemeanors that convert to felonies exist especially for those people.  In Jack’s case, he ended up committing a misdemeanor petty larceny, a misdemeanor assault and battery, a felony aggravated assault/malicious wounding, another misdemeanor larceny, and a felony third offense petty larceny.  When all was said and done, he had paid hundreds of dollars in restitution (if you don’t include the manager’s medical bills), thousands of dollars in fines, and probably spent some time in a correctional facility.

Of course, these are just the crimes Jack got caught committing!  

While it might sound complicated to differentiate between misdemeanors and felonies by state, just remember that each state has online resources that outline every offense and penalty, and once you become familiar with the misdemeanors, felonies, and their penalties in your state, they don’t often change. Sometimes, simplicity is just a search bar away!

Suggested Citation for this Article

Glenn, K.M., Criminal Justice Know How, LLC, October 2020, Misdemeanors vs. Felonies. https://criminaljusticeknowhow.com/misdemeanors-vs-felonies/.