4 ms·
Crimes can be either misdemeanors or felonies in the USA, and they are automatically considered to be the latter if the prison sentence is over a year in length
by seabass-labrax 2y ago
Crimes can be either misdemeanors or felonies in the USA, and they are automatically considered to be the latter if the prison sentence is over a year in length. Therefore he might have been sentenced to the extra day to ensure that his criminal record includes a felony. This would prevent him from getting a job in finance, for instance, even after having served his sentence.
PS. I am not American, let alone an American lawyer, so don't take my word for it!
- hn_throwaway_99 2y agoThis is incorrect. In the federal system, while felonies are punishable by imprisonment over a year and misdemeanors by imprisonment up to a year, the important word is punishable - whether the crime is a felony or a misdemeanor is simply inherent to the charge, and if you are convicted, the nature of the crime doesn't change based on the imposed sentence. E.g. if you are convicted of a felony but receive a prison sentence of a year or less, you're still a felon - the charge doesn't just turn into a misdemeanor because you received a shorter sentence.
- seabass-labrax 2y agoI wondered if that might be the case - thank you for the correction!