What’s the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony?

“Misdemeanor” and “Felony” are categories used by our judicial system to classify crimes, and their resulting punishment, by severity level. Misdemeanors are lower-level offenses, such as shoplifting and vandalism, while felonies typically are quite serious crimes—an extreme example being murder.

Felonies almost always carry stronger penalties than misdemeanors. Whether a particular crime is a felony or a misdemeanor can vary from state to state, and the federal government has its own definitions as well.

Sometimes, repetition of a misdemeanor-level crime can lead to a felony-level charge—meaning that a subsequent offense of a crime you’ve been convicted of in the past will be considered a felony for you, and not a misdemeanor. This is not true of all laws, however, or of all states. In Colorado, for instance, a person’s first conviction for animal cruelty is a Class 1 Misdemeanor, but a second or subsequent conviction for animal cruelty is a Class 6 Felony.