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The term felony is a term used in Common Law systems for very serious Crime s, whereas Misdemeanor s are considered to be less serious offenses. It is principally used in Criminal Law in the United States legal system. The distinction between a felony and misdemeanor has been abolished by most , maintain the distinction. Those jurisdictions which have abolished the distinction generally adopt some other classification, e.g. in Canada , Australia , the Republic Of Ireland and the United Kingdom the crimes are divided into Summary Offence s and Indictable Offence s. UNITED STATES In the United States, a felony is intended to be the higher category of criminal offenses, as distinct from a Misdemeanor , which is intended to be the less serious category of offenses (although 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 . Some states also subdivide felonies into "classes", such as Class A through Class J or Class 1 through Class 7 felonies). What is a felony and who commits one? Crimes commonly considered to be felonies include, but are not limited to: Aggravated Assault and/or Battery , Arson , Burglary , some instances of Drug Possession (dependent on the jurisdiction, often possession over a certain weight, based on the type of drug, is held to indicate intent to sell or distribute), Embezzlement , Grand Theft , Treason , Espionage , Racketeering , Robbery , Murder , Sex Crimes (may require registration has a Sex Offender ), possessing a pocket knife on school property, Rape , Kidnapping , Cannabis Cultivation and Fraud . A third offense for Driving Under The Influence is also a felony in most states. "The present at the scene of the crime; (3) Accessories before the fact, aiders and abettors who helped the principal before the basic criminal event took place; and (4) accessories after the fact, persons who helped the principal after the basic criminal event took place. In the course of the 20th century, however, American jurisdictions eliminated the distinction among the first three categories." '' Gonzales V. Duenas-Alvarez '', 549 U.S. __ (2007) (citations omitted). In some states, felonies are also classified according to their seriousness. A murder is also counted as a felony and can result in a death penalty or a life sentence. The number of classifications and the corresponding crimes vary by state and are determined by the legislature. Usually, the legislature also determines the maximum punishment allowable for each felony class. Punishment A felony may be punishable with imprisonment for one or more years or Death in the case of the most serious felonies, such as Murder , Treason , and Espionage ; indeed, at Common Law when the British and American legal systems divorced in 1776 , felonies were crimes for which the punishment was either Death or Forfeiture of Property . In modern times, felons can receive punishments which range in severity; from Probation , to Imprisonment , to Execution for premeditated murder or other serious crimes. In the United States felons often face additional consequences, such as the loss of Voting Rights in many states, exclusion from certain lines of work, prohibition from obtaining certain Licenses , exclusion from purchase and possession of Firearms or Ammunition , and ineligibility to run for or be elected to public office. In addition, some State s consider a felony conviction to be grounds for an uncontested Divorce . These, among other losses of privileges not included explicitly in sentencing, are known as Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Charges . Finally if a felon is not a U.S. citizen that person may be subject to Deportation after sentencing is complete. Civil sanctions imposed on United States citizens convicted of a felony in many states include 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 Fourteenth Amendment To The United States Constitution , a Reconstruction -era amendment that deals with permissible state regulation of voting rights. Expunction Theoretically, federal law allows persons convicted of felonies in a federal United States District Court to apply to have their record expunged after a certain period of time with a clean record. 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. For state law convictions, expunction is determined by the law of the state. Some states do not allow this, regardless of the offense. SEE ALSO
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