The United States criminal justice system classifies crimes in one of two categories depending on the prospective penalties faced by the defendant.
A crime is considered a felony if a person charged with a criminal offence for which the sentence can exceed one year in prison. Assuming a criminal charge could only result in a sentence of a year or less, it is considered a misdemeanour.
Felonies and misdemeanours can be apply to crimes that set by legislation from the federal government (federal crimes) or by the state legislature (state crimes). Federal offences generally carry very long sentences and a much higher conviction rate than state crimes.
Examples of Felonies are:
- Title 42, U.S.C., Section 3631 – Criminal Interference with Right to Fair Housing: Prohibits the use of force or threatened force to interfere with housing rights based on protected characteristics2.
- Title 26 of the United States Code: Contains criminal provisions related to tax evasion and possession of certain banned weapons1.
- Kidnapping: Aggravated kidnapping is considered a Class A felony under federal law5. It’s defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1201.
- Fraud: Large-scale fraud, such as securities fraud involving substantial amounts of money, can be a Class B felony5. Various fraud offenses are covered under Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
- Cybercrime: Serious computer crimes can be felonies. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030) outlines various computer-related offenses that can be classified as felonies.
Examples of Misdemeanours:
- Simple assault on certain officers or employees (18 U.S.C. § 111): Assaulting, resisting, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with a United States officer or employee.
- Simple possession of controlled substances (21 U.S.C. § 844): Having a small amount of a controlled substance.
- Willfully failing to file a tax return or pay taxes (26 U.S.C. § 7203): Not filing a federal tax return or paying required taxes.
- Counterfeiting military discharge papers (18 U.S.C. § 498): Creating, using, possessing, or presenting fake or altered discharge papers from military or naval service.
- Intimidation of voters (18 U.S.C. § 594): Threatening or coercing a person to influence how they vote in a federal election.