Possession of Cocaine

by Chuck “Caveman” Coker

For most legal systems that still apply the classification of crime as felony and misdemeanor, misdemeanor is considered as the lesser crime or offenses committed by an individual with a less significant punishment than felonies. Theoretically, misdemeanor is still a higher offense compared to that of administrative infractions and is mostly punishable by monetary fines or probation.

The federal government of the United States considers any offenses punishable with a jail time of less than a year as a misdemeanor and the remaining crimes are considered felonies which are all punishable by a year or more of jail time. The distinction between misdemeanor and felony has been removed by other legal system in other countries like in Vic., Australia, the Crimes Act 1958 s. 332B(1), and in NSW., Australia, the Crimes Act 1900 () s. 580E(1). Those particular jurisdictions adopted other crime classification system like in Canada, Ireland, and United Kingdom where crimes are classified into indictable offenses and summary offenses.

Crimes involving misdemeanor varies from state to state and the severity of the crime committed. Misdemeanors may be drug possession, simple assault, disorderly conduct, prostitution, trespass, vandalism, public intoxication, petty theft, DUI and other similar crimes. In the United States, misdemeanors are punishable with a maximum of 12 months imprisonment in a local jail unlike with felonies where offenders are incarcerated in a state prison. Those people who have committed misdemeanors are often penalized with probation, community service or part-time imprisonment, served on the weekends.

Depending on the classification of the offense, the variety of penalty can differ widely. For example, the United States federal government and most of its states segregate misdemeanors into a number of classes, with certain classes carrying a punishment of imprisonment and the others carrying only a monetary fine or a community service or both. When a ruling does not identify the classification, it is passed on to as an unclassified misdemeanor. This is done mostly when lawmakers want to require a sentence that is outside the outline defined in the misdemeanor classes.

When an individual is convicted of misdemeanor, his conviction will not merit loss of civil rights as what may happen in a felony conviction but it can certainly affect some of the person’s privileges like lose of professional licenses, public employment, or the right to run for public office. This effect is known as collateral consequences of criminal charges. This is common when the offense is related to any of the above stated privileges.

Misdemeanor charges can be harmful to person’s background. This can limit him from acquiring certain privileges that is why it is always important to have a background check to make sure whether a misdemeanor charge has made it to the public records. By having knowledge about it, a person will be able to do something about before being put in a very compromising situation. This particular record can be searched in online websites hosting criminal search like criminalpages.com where a person is allowed to make a criminal search of his own in the convenience and privacy of his own home.

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