Virginia and New Jersey have felony larceny thresholds of $200; Massachusetts draws the line at $250. Arizona, Oklahoma and Tennessee all class possession of half an ounce of marijuana as a felony. Several states make possession of any amount within proximity of a school, church or park a felony. There are countless examples of misdemeanour possession being trumped-up to felony possession with intent based on very flimsy grounds.
This is all nitpicky and arbitrary, which is largely my point. The line between misdemeanour and felony is thin, but the consequences of crossing it are severe. In one state, you might get a $50 fine; in the next, you might be barred from voting or lose your green card.
I think you're missing the overall point. It doesn't matter whether the demarcation is $200, $250, or $3000 between a misdemeanor and a felony. It is more important that a person has trafficked in stolen goods. For that reason, lowering the limit of a misdemeanor is far more likely than raising it.
Besides, different states have different laws. This isn't arbitrary but how our country was designed to work.
Stealing a coat or possessing 1/2 and ounce of marijuana are generally not felonies. Stealing would be larceny and there are cost thresholds associated with that.
$950 being a misdemeanor isn't unreasonable on its own. It becomes unreasonable when you combine it with misdemeanors not being prosecuted, so it's not fair to compare the threshold in places that do prosecute them with places that don't.
There are increasingly two types of law in the USA: felony punishable by no less than x, and misdemeanor punishable by no more than y.
I've taken to sighing and accepting y and just being grateful it's not a felony if I do it. Felonies are bad, you'll lose your rights, you can't vote, they're harder on you in court, and they follow you everywhere.
The specific felony matters a lot to me. Someone busted with a gram of marijuana or a bong in Arizona can pick up a felony conviction for it. Someone with a previous embezzlement charge is a different story (even if the embezzlement conviction was only a misdemeanor).
In Virginia, felony larceny starts at $200, easily within coat range. I once had jury duty and was faced with the prospect of sentencing the defendant to up to 20 years in prison for the crime of receiving stolen goods valued at least $200. I got rejected from the jury, probably because I said I couldn’t possibly consider 20 years in prison for that.
The felony threshold in California is $950. In Texas it's like $2,500. Below that theft is a misdemeanor which typically means they're eligible for incarceration of up to one year. It's pretty difficult to prosecute people that the cops don't arrest.
The short answer is that misdemeanors are crimes that aren't that bad (e.g., trespassing), and felonies are crimes that are really bad (e.g., kidnapping). Felonies carry stricter sentences than misdemeanors. By saying that stealing up to $950 worth of product per day is only a misdemeanor, a lot of the deterrent effect goes away.
This is all nitpicky and arbitrary, which is largely my point. The line between misdemeanour and felony is thin, but the consequences of crossing it are severe. In one state, you might get a $50 fine; in the next, you might be barred from voting or lose your green card.
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