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Being charged with a crime is a formal accusation from the government, and you will be arrested. You may then post bail as set by a judge, if they allow it, and
by tvanantwerp 12y ago
Being charged with a crime is a formal accusation from the government, and you will be arrested. You may then post bail as set by a judge, if they allow it, and remain free for the duration of your trial. If you can't post bail, you stay in jail through the trial. If found guilty, you go to prison.
- watson 12y agoBased on the way you wrote this I get the understanding that the US system differentiates between jail and prison? In that case what's the difference?
- mapt 12y agoThere are a lot of individual circumstances, but generally: Prison is where people who are convicted of felonies (crimes worthy of >1 year in custodial sentence) are sent. Jails are where people awaiting trial, or convicted of misdemeanors (crimes worthy of <1 year in custodial sentence) are sent.
- 286c8cb04bda 12y agoJails are run by counties or cities, and are for persons awaiting trial (i.e. not been convicted) or persons found guilty and serving short sentences. Prisons are run by a state or by the Federal government, and are for holding persons who have been convicted of a crime and sentanced to a longer term.