Criminal Justice

Crimes have in general been classified as felonies or as misdemeanors. The former are considered as being serious. They may be heinous and therefore outrage the complacency of the group. In the main, however, they cause or threaten severe personal suff ring or great financial loss. Misdemeanors, on the other hand, are those crimes which are considered as being less serious. They cause or threaten minor personal suffering or minor financial loss. Most of them are violations of local ordinances which have been enacted to maintain the orderly arrangement of community life. There is no clearly stated guiding principle by which a crime is designated a misdemeanor or a felony. The determination seems to hinge on distinctions and reasoning which are beyond understanding and are almost sophistries. This is clearly indicated by the fact that with the passage of time some acts which had previously b en classified as misdemeanors have suddenly become felonies, merely by the operation of legislative will. Conversely, other acts have been transformed from felonies into misdemeanors. Because of this it is neces

Algorithm · Criminal justice · Criminology · Economic Justice · Law and economics · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law