Jail Time

Who knew . . . my roommates knew so much about breaking the law?

My roommate Kirsten teaches at Rikers Island (NYC Dept. of Corrections - Jail - the one on Law and Order) and Emilie is an HR generalist for a major bank.  Both of them must deal with people on a regular basis who are or may be breaking the laws.  Tonight we got into a very interesting discussion on felonies and misdemeanors, to which I had nothing to add (and I am okay with that given the topic of conversation).  Kirsten was informing us of the differences between the two and provided some examples.  Emilie was informing us of what shows up on a background check and how to approach this with future employers.  Wouldn't this make a great topic for an RS Enrichment activity? jk

Here are some of the misdemeanors and felonies that we found unusual.  Strangely we found these funny and surprised that these have to be clearly listed as breaking the law.  Kirsten wishes these were the reasons her students are in prison unfortunately that is not the case and many are facing a minimum of 5 years.

• Eves dropping (non violent felony)
  
• Fortune telling (misdemeanor)
  
• Harming an animal trained to aid a person with a disability (1st and 2nd degree felony)
  
• Killing or injuring a police animal (felony)
  
• Obstructing governmental administration by means of a self defense spray devise (felony)
  
• Possessions of burglar tools (misdemeanor) - what constitutes a burglar tool?
  
• Possession of graffiti instruments (misdemeanor) - what constitutes a graffiti instrument?
  
• Rent Gouging (felony or at least it should be)
  
• Unlawfully posting advertisements (violation)
  
• Criminal sale of a police uniform (misdemeanor)
  

Interesting Information

Misdemeanors = no jail time up to 1 year

Felony = 5 years minimum

Felony = 1st degree means it is violent and typically has a 10 year minimum

Jail = facility for persons who have not been sentenced yet

Prison = facility for persons who have been sentenced and are serving time

Also another interesting fact - prison years are shorter than calendar years, they are only 10 months and if it is Rikers Island then it is 8 months.

What does all this mean? What  have I learned from all of this? I learned how to spell misdemeanor.  I learned the difference between prison and jail.  And most importantly I learned that I love my job in advertising and marketing and am note quite cut out for the department of corrections.

PS - sorry there are no pictures - it's against the law (misdemeanor in the first)!