Felony

A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a "very serious" crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. Crimes which are commonly considered to be felonies include: aggravated assault, arson, burglary, murder, and rape. Those who are convicted of a felony are known as felons. Originally, felonies were crimes for which the punishment was either death or forfeiture of property. Nowadays, felons can receive punishments which range in severity; from probation, to imprisonment, to execution. Felons often receive additional punishments such as the loss of voting rights, exclusion from certain lines of work, and loss of firearm rights. In addition, some states consider a felony conviction to be grounds for an uncontested divorce.

The distinction between a felony and misdemeanour has been abolished by some common law jurisdictions (e.g. Crimes Act 1958 (Vic., Australia) s. 332B(1) (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/ca195882/s322b.html), Crimes Act 1900 (NSW., Australia) s. 580E(1) (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ca190082/s580e.html)); other jurisdictions maintain the distinction, notably those of the US. Those jurisdictions which have abolished the distinction generally adopt some other classification, e.g. in New South Wales, Australia, the crimes are divided into summary offences and indictable offences. Many US jurisdictions, which maintain the distinction between a felony and a misdemeanour, divide felonies into classes, e.g. class A felony, class B felony, etc.

The United States
In many jurisdictions of the US, a felony is any offence carrying a potential penalty of more than one year in prison. In Massachusetts, on the other hand, a felony is any offence which carries any prison time.

Theoretically, federal law allows persons convicted of felonies in a federal United States district court to apply to have their record expunged. 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, unlike those convicted of felonies in state courts.

Criminal law
Accomplice Acquittal Arrest Arrest warrant Bail Barratry California Penal Code Citizen's arrest Civil death
Collective punishment Crime Crime in Canada Criminal Code Criminal justice Criminal procedure Doctrine of merger
Felony Felony murder Forensic psychiatry Hybrid offence Indictable offence Indictment Infraction Insanity defense
Labouchere Amendment Mens rea Miranda warning Misdemeanor Mug shot Negligence Nolle prosequi Outlaw Penology Prisons in the United States
Probable cause Queen's peace Rap sheet Retributive justice Rights of the accused Solicitation The Queen v Carroll Three strikes law Transferred intent
Transformative justice Whole life tariff Witness intimidation Year and a day rule

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