What's the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor? Crimes fall into two categories, felonies and misdemeanors. If the law enforces imprisonment for more than 1 year, the crime is considered a felony. In the potential punishment is for a year or less, then the crime is considered a misdemeanor. There are cases where because of its uniqueness could be considered a felony with a punishment of a year or less, and misdemeanors that called for more than one year of imprisonment. This type of cases are known as wobblers. Things like traffic tickets are known as infractions, these are only punishable by fines. But ocassionally an infraction may be punished by a fine and still be a misdemeanor. Such as possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for personal use in California. BACK TO FAQ © 2005. All rights reserved  | Developed by Aridel Technologies