Talk:Misdemeanor

Introduction
Already the second paragraph of the article is ludicrous: "Contraventions are similar to misdemeanors in many civil law countries (e.g. France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland etc.)."

In that grammatical structure, it is a nonsensical inversion, as misdemeanors is the Common Law term, so it would rather have to read: "In many Civil Law countries, contraventions are similar to what is called misdemeanors in Common Law."

But still, that would be plainly wrong, as the third paragraph of the Wikipedia article on felonies shows: "Similar to felonies in some civil law countries (Italy, etc.) are delicts, whereas in others (France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland etc.) crimes (more serious) and delicts (less serious)." And as the Wikipedia entry on contraventions itself states: "a contravention is a non-criminal offense, similar to an infraction or civil penalty in common law countries."

Phrase should be deleted. I will do so. --71.207.153.148 (talk) 05:28, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Suggestion
Suggestion to mention the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968:

"The Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968, effective 30 September 1996, makes it a felony for those convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence to ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms or ammunition. The Amendment also makes it a felony to transfer a firearm or ammunition to an individual known, or reasonably believed, to have such a conviction. Soldiers are not exempt from the Lautenberg Amendment."

"Army policy is that all soldiers known to have, or soldiers whom commanders have reasonable cause to believe have, a conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic are non-deployable for missions that require possession of firearms or ammunition. Soldiers affected by the Lautenberg Amendment are not eligible for overseas assignment."

http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/military_justice/lautenberg-amendment.shtml —Preceding unsigned comment added by Klk206 (talk • contribs) 21:35, 5 February 2010 (UTC)


 * 1) Laura Black (novelist), novelist who had novels turned into feature films and television series, Mother Love (TV series) and Passion Flower Hotel (film)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.19.107.200 (talk) 15:51, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

This does not represent a worldwide view!! 92.26.66.240 (talk) 17:12, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

What other common law jurisdictions?
The lead of the article states:
 * A misdemeanor, or a misdemeanour in many common law legal systems, is a "lesser" criminal act

It then proceeds to name *civil* law jurisdictions that also use the term, and name common law jurisdictiond that do *not* (anymore) use this term. But the US is the only example given of a common law system that still uses it. So, which common law jurisdiction still uses this term. If there are "many", it should be very easy to name some, besides the US. --Rob (talk) 20:05, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

70's
70's tv shows? really? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.175.122.86 (talk) 20:53, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

England/Wales "defendant"?
The wording of the England/Wales paragraph implies that the term "defendant" would not be applicable to one charged with a crime greater than a misdemeanor. Is this correct? 122.107.147.136 (talk) 20:33, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Yes. A person charged with felony was called a "prisoner". This is also in the book by O Hood Phillips and in another book called Learning the Law by Glanville Williams. James500 (talk) 11:18, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

Common Law
This article is supposed to be about common law, which is what the factbox says. Now either the fact box needs to be changed, or the stuff about Germany which isn't a common law country needs to be removed (perhaps moved to an article of its own). Jasonfward (talk) 00:09, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

Removed this section on Germany since Germnay is not a common law country

A felony (Verbrechen) is defined as a crime that is punishable with at least one year of imprisonment.

Misdemeanours (Vergehen) are all other crimes punishable by imprisonment of less than one year or by fine.

However, in many cases a misdemeanour may be punished with imprisonment of more than one year, yet the crime itself remains considered a misdemeanour. Same applies for a milder version of a felony that is punishable with imprisonment less than a year. The most severe sentence possible for a misdemeanour is ten years (for instance once-aggravated theft or child abuse).

An attempt to commit a felony crime is always punishable whilst an attempt to commit a misdemeanour is solely punishable if particularly prescribed by law.

A plea bargain (Strafbefehl) is only applicable for misdemeanours, not for felonies.

Jasonfward (talk) 00:35, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

There is no such thing as a "factbox". The navbox at the top of the page, to which I think you probably mean to refer does not say that this article is about the common law. The words "part of the common law series" refer to the navbox itself, not the article. James500 (talk) 11:18, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
 * OK, right now the article is confusing, is it about the concept covered by the English word misdemeanour, or is it about the legal meaning of misdemeanour in common law countries? I have no particular opinion about which it should be, but the distinction is important and without the distinction the article seems wolly and unsure of itself. Jasonfward (talk) 21:43, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

It might be that "verbrechen" and "vergehen" require their own articles. It might even be that countries that have received this concept from the common law of England need their own articles if the definition of, and perhaps incidents to, misdemeanor, have been changed to a sufficient degree. Strictly, we are not supposed to put things on the same page just because they have the same name because we are not a dictionary. James500 (talk) 10:31, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * OK, you say "Strictly, we are not supposed to put things on the same page just because they have the same name", which I think is in broad agreement with my "the distinction is important" and "the article is confusing, is it about the concept covered by the English word misdemeanour, or is it about the legal meaning of misdemeanour in common law countries?"? Yes?  No?  If yes, can we decide?  My preference is that is about the common law term and its legal meaning.  Jasonfward (talk) 14:16, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Continued improvements
I have added some NY law. I see this article is improving continually. However, it still needs a lot more sources and filling in of other examples. Bearian (talk) 20:32, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Class B misdemeanors in the US and the agenda of the 2018 presidential administration
Seems like that there are some people out there that would like to say that ripping children from their parents is in "many cases" the normal action of the federal government. I suggest clamping down on the vandalism of this page until this whole situation blows over and/or is settled in court. The following quoted portion was removed for being misleading and not based in fact:

In the United States, misdemeanors are typically crimes with a maximum punishment of 12 months of incarceration, typically in a local jail as contrasted with felons, who are typically incarcerated in a prison. Jurisdictions such as Massachusetts are a notable exception where the maximum punishment of some misdemeanors is up to 2.5 years. People who are convicted of misdemeanors are often punished with probation, community service, short jail term, or part-time incarceration such as a sentence that may be served on the weekends", or (prior to conviction) separation of children from their families ."
 * You are correct. Separation of children from their families is never a sentence imposed for a misdemeanor. Where both parents are convicted of a misdemeanor, usually one is jailed while the other is allowed to remain free to take care of the children until the other has served their time, at which time the first parent is released to care for the child while the second parent is jailed. If circumstances require both parents to be jailed at the same time, the children are placed in the care of other family members or people designated by the parents. Variations from these practices are exceedingly rare and would require a very high burden of proof of necessity for the welfare of the child. bd2412  T 16:38, 23 June 2018 (UTC)
 * It seems like over 2,000 children have been taken from their parents before their parents were convicted of a misdemenor — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.88.49.93 (talk) 18:06, 23 June 2018 (UTC)

Quick moment of praise
Hallelujah! It's called possession of cannabis, not marijuana! Thank goodness for shifting to less hate-filled wording. :) 24.119.136.141 (talk) 07:09, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Petty crime
The article's lead seems to imply that petty crime is synonymous with summary offence: "...but theoretically more so than administrative infractions (also known as minor, petty, or summary offences)". If that is correct, should then petty crime redirect to summary offence instead of redirecting to this article? —capmo (talk) 20:11, 29 August 2019 (UTC)

Is it "High Crimes" and "Misdemeanors" (not high) or "High Crimes and Misdemeanors"?
The article had separated "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" into "High Crimes" and "Misdemeanors," as if the misdemeanors were not modified by the adjective high. You may argue the grammar, but the source cited (see its page 1575) applies the adjective High to Misdemeanors, not only to crimes. I checked the word "high"in the journal article cited and never found misdemeanors separated from the preceding adjective "high." Thus, since the source cited is opposed to separating the phrase so that high does not apply to misdemeanors, I took the bold step of correcting the statement to conform with the source cited. Actually it seems preposterous that all misdemeanors would be considered as grounds for an impeachment (e.g., jay-walking). (PeacePeace (talk) 22:28, 24 October 2019 (UTC))

New Zealand - Summary and Indictable Offences
Hey there,

I have not edited an article before so I thought I would put this here - reference is made to New Zealand having summary and indictable offences. This distinction was removed in 2011 with the enactment of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011. The source cited for the claim that this distinction remains only refers to the categories of offences, which is dissimilar to the summary and indictable offences. ProfileWithNoName (talk) 00:59, 13 May 2024 (UTC)