Post by PatrickS on Jun 18, 2006 10:28:50 GMT -5
Felony
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Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Elements of crimes
Actus reus · Causation · Concurrence
Mens rea · Intention (general)
Intention in English law · Recklessness
Willful blindness · Criminal negligence
Ignorantia juris non excusat
Vicarious liability · Corporate liability
Strict liability
Classes of crimes
Felony/Indictable · Hybrid offence
Misdemeanor/Summary
Infraction
lesser included offenses
Crimes against the person
Assault · Battery · Robbery
Kidnapping · Rape
Mayhem · Manslaughter · Murder
Crimes against property
Burglary · Larceny · Arson
Embezzlement · False pretenses
Extortion · Forgery · Computer crime
Crimes against justice
Obstruction of justice · Bribery
Perjury · Misprision of felony
Inchoate offenses
Solicitation · Attempt
Conspiracy · Accessory
Subsets
Criminal procedure
Criminal defenses
Other areas of the common law
Contract law · Tort law · Property law
Wills and trusts · Evidence
Criminal justice portal
A felony is the term for a "very serious" crime, whereas misdemeanors 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 some common law jurisdictions (e.g. Crimes Act 1958 (Vic., Australia) s. 332B(1), Crimes Act 1900 (NSW., Australia) s. 580E(1)); other jurisdictions maintain the distinction, notably those of the United States. Those jurisdictions which have abolished the distinction generally adopt some other classification, e.g. in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom the crimes are divided into summary offences and indictable offences.
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A felony is one of the highest classes of offenses, and punishable with death or imprisonment. It is a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded in the US and other judicial systems as more serious than a misdemeanour. An offense carrying a lesser sentence is usually a misdemeanor.
Crimes which are commonly considered to be felonies include, but are not limited to: aggravated assault, arson, burglary, murder, and rape. Those who are convicted of a felony are known as felons, a social stigma. Originally, 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. In the United States felons often receive additional punishments such as the loss of voting rights, exclusion from certain lines of work, prohibition from obtaining certain licenses, exclusion from purchase/possession of firearms or ammunition, and ineligibility to run for or be elected to public office. In addition, some states 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.
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.
A civil sanction imposed on United States 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.
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.
In effect, expunction is determined by state law. Some states do not allow this, regardless of the offense, resulting in a subclass of citizens. These citizens can have extreme difficultly finding a job or even a place to live, regardless of qualifications or references.
SOURCE
I myself have to wonder in awe at some things that have been made felonies. I believe that "true" felonies, such as described above should carry very heavy penalties. No, I do not mean things like "Petty Theft with a Prior," such as in California. Crimes such as aggravated assault, "True" First Degree Murder, Rape and child molestation should carry such heavy penalties that if the offender is in fact ever released from prison they will be so old that they are probably incompetent to re-offend.
This leads to other infringments upon rights that are immoral in My opinion. These things are in fact spelled out in the Constitution. Such as ex post facto law, and the taking of "Inalieanable Rights" based upon non-felony convictions. Yet, in the name of political correctness they have become the law of the land.
Often civil penalties are assigned against a person even after a Not Guilty verdict in a criminal Court. This may be all fine and dandy in a case like O.J. Simpson as a matter of opinion. But it still does not make it right. Recently here in Colorado there was an attempt to make an organization monetarily responsible for things done many years ago, and to disallow any defense. It almost passed in the legislature! On that note, the battle still rages, despite laws passed to the contrary, to hold Firearms manufacturers liable for the mis-use of products by others.
These are things that need to be addressed.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Elements of crimes
Actus reus · Causation · Concurrence
Mens rea · Intention (general)
Intention in English law · Recklessness
Willful blindness · Criminal negligence
Ignorantia juris non excusat
Vicarious liability · Corporate liability
Strict liability
Classes of crimes
Felony/Indictable · Hybrid offence
Misdemeanor/Summary
Infraction
lesser included offenses
Crimes against the person
Assault · Battery · Robbery
Kidnapping · Rape
Mayhem · Manslaughter · Murder
Crimes against property
Burglary · Larceny · Arson
Embezzlement · False pretenses
Extortion · Forgery · Computer crime
Crimes against justice
Obstruction of justice · Bribery
Perjury · Misprision of felony
Inchoate offenses
Solicitation · Attempt
Conspiracy · Accessory
Subsets
Criminal procedure
Criminal defenses
Other areas of the common law
Contract law · Tort law · Property law
Wills and trusts · Evidence
Criminal justice portal
A felony is the term for a "very serious" crime, whereas misdemeanors 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 some common law jurisdictions (e.g. Crimes Act 1958 (Vic., Australia) s. 332B(1), Crimes Act 1900 (NSW., Australia) s. 580E(1)); other jurisdictions maintain the distinction, notably those of the United States. Those jurisdictions which have abolished the distinction generally adopt some other classification, e.g. in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom the crimes are divided into summary offences and indictable offences.
[edit]
More
A felony is one of the highest classes of offenses, and punishable with death or imprisonment. It is a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded in the US and other judicial systems as more serious than a misdemeanour. An offense carrying a lesser sentence is usually a misdemeanor.
Crimes which are commonly considered to be felonies include, but are not limited to: aggravated assault, arson, burglary, murder, and rape. Those who are convicted of a felony are known as felons, a social stigma. Originally, 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. In the United States felons often receive additional punishments such as the loss of voting rights, exclusion from certain lines of work, prohibition from obtaining certain licenses, exclusion from purchase/possession of firearms or ammunition, and ineligibility to run for or be elected to public office. In addition, some states 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.
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.
A civil sanction imposed on United States 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.
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.
In effect, expunction is determined by state law. Some states do not allow this, regardless of the offense, resulting in a subclass of citizens. These citizens can have extreme difficultly finding a job or even a place to live, regardless of qualifications or references.
SOURCE
I myself have to wonder in awe at some things that have been made felonies. I believe that "true" felonies, such as described above should carry very heavy penalties. No, I do not mean things like "Petty Theft with a Prior," such as in California. Crimes such as aggravated assault, "True" First Degree Murder, Rape and child molestation should carry such heavy penalties that if the offender is in fact ever released from prison they will be so old that they are probably incompetent to re-offend.
This leads to other infringments upon rights that are immoral in My opinion. These things are in fact spelled out in the Constitution. Such as ex post facto law, and the taking of "Inalieanable Rights" based upon non-felony convictions. Yet, in the name of political correctness they have become the law of the land.
Often civil penalties are assigned against a person even after a Not Guilty verdict in a criminal Court. This may be all fine and dandy in a case like O.J. Simpson as a matter of opinion. But it still does not make it right. Recently here in Colorado there was an attempt to make an organization monetarily responsible for things done many years ago, and to disallow any defense. It almost passed in the legislature! On that note, the battle still rages, despite laws passed to the contrary, to hold Firearms manufacturers liable for the mis-use of products by others.
These are things that need to be addressed.