Also known as: grades · degree · level
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A classification of criminal offenses according to their level of seriousness. The classification typically divides felonies into first, second, or third degree and distinguishes them from misdemeanors or violations.
Gabriel Gonzalez drove at excessive speed through a residential area while intoxicated. His car struck and killed a pedestrian. Prosecutors charged him with involuntary manslaughter rather than murder because the death resulted from criminal negligence, a lower grade of homicide.
George Garcia entered a convenience store, displayed a knife, and demanded money from the clerk while threatening immediate serious injury. The charge was robbery, a felony whose grade depended on whether he inflicted or attempted serious bodily injury during the theft.
George Garcia entered a convenience store, displayed a knife, and demanded money from the clerk while threatening immediate serious injury. Prosecutors graded the offense as first-degree robbery because the threat created a substantial risk of serious bodily harm during the theft.
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Gabriel Gonzalez drove at excessive speed through a residential area while intoxicated. His car struck and killed a pedestrian. The prosecution selected the lower grade of involuntary manslaughter because the death resulted from criminal negligence rather than malice.
Glenn Gross caused a death while committing an unlawful act that did not rise to felony level. The resulting charge was graded as involuntary manslaughter under the misdemeanor-manslaughter rule rather than murder.
Gulfstream Aviation's mechanic failed to secure an engine cowling despite obvious safety violations. The cowling detached in flight and caused a fatal crash. The resulting charge was involuntary manslaughter because the mechanic's conduct constituted criminal negligence, the grade of homicide below murder.
The grade determines the authorized punishment range. First-degree felonies carry the heaviest penalties, while misdemeanors carry lighter sentences. Courts use the grade to select the proper sentencing range and to decide whether probation or other alternatives are available.
Criminal negligence requires a substantially greater deviation from reasonable conduct than the negligence that supports civil liability. The higher deviation elevates an unintentional killing from no crime or a civil matter to involuntary manslaughter.
No. At common law, offenses of the same degree did not merge, but each distinct grade remained separate. A single act may support only one grade of homicide or robbery based on the mental state and risk shown.
…between limited and unlimited government is abolished. Either the Constitution is superior and paramount or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts. If the former, then a legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say…