this country is so fucking cool

  • BoBTFish@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    I’m not from the USA, I thought a felony is a crime at the national level, not the state level? How can a state specify that?

    • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      Felony is more about severity and consequences.
      Misdemeanors punishable by a fine or “short” jail term, and a felony by more than a year in prison.

      Felonies can also bring penalities like being barred from certain jobs forever, restrictions on firearm ownership and depending on state loosing the ability to vote.

      Below those are things like traffic tickets or citations, which are typically a small fine and don’t involve a trial, unless you ask to talk to a judge.

      Federal vs state is a question of jurisdiction rather than severity. You don’t hear about federal misdemeanors very often because federal prosecutors are more interested in things like “interstate smuggling” than “someone urinated in public on the lawn of the Des Moines Federal building”.
      Or the weird “shot a burro from a helicopter”.

      Personally, I think we really need a crackdown on airborne donkey hunting. (/S)