Commonly Misunderstood Legal Terms You Need to Know

Unless you’re involved in the legal system every day, you likely won’t be familiar with all legal terms used to describe specific situations and outcomes. When you do find yourself requiring legal knowledge for any reason, there’s potential to misunderstand what specific terms mean and their impact on your life or legal outcome. The more you know, the more confident you may feel as you navigate a foreign situation. Learn more about the most commonly misunderstood legal terms below:  

Misdemeanor vs. Felony

Understanding the difference between misdemeanors and felony charges  is crucial because one can often be a minor blip on your record, while the other can have severe, life-changing consequences.

A misdemeanor is a lower-level criminal offense, such as shoplifting, DUI, simple assault, or vandalism. They are typically divided into classes A, B, and C, or degrees, first, second, third, and fourth. Class A or first-degree offenses carry the harshest penalties. In most cases, misdemeanors result in jail time, fines, and/or alternative sentences like probation, community service, or counseling.

Under criminal law, a felony describes a serious criminal offense, such as murder, rape, grand burglary, and arson. These crimes can result in a punishment of more than one year in prison, or even by death in states with the death penalty. Like misdemeanors, felonies are split into classes or degrees.

Arrest vs. Conviction

Being arrested for a crime doesn’t mean you’re guilty of that crime. It means you’re suspected of committing a crime, so police officers take you into custody. A conviction only happens once you’ve been legally found guilty.

Civil Case vs. Criminal Case

While they sound similar, civil and criminal cases come from two very different areas of law, with different laws and punishments. Private parties file civil cases, which usually involve landlord-tenant and property disputes, divorce proceedings, and similar matters, with the aim of reimbursement. The government files criminal cases, and the goal is to punish people found guilty of crimes, such as through a fine, jail time, alternative sentences, or even the death penalty.

Probation vs. Parole

Probation means that a court has ordered a sentence to be served in the community, rather than in jail. Typical rules include community service, classes, check-ins, and fines. If you break any of those rules, the judge can send you to jail.

Parole means that you were serving time in prison, and a parole board and parole officer decided that you could be released early and serve the remainder of your time in the community. Like probation, parole has rules, such as curfews, drug tests, and travel limits.

Testimony vs. Evidence

All testimony is evidence, but not all evidence is testimony. Evidence is anything that can prove or disprove facts in a legal case, such as a document or item, a scientific test, or spoken words. Testimony is a spoken statement by an expert witness, or someone under oath that counts as evidence. This form of evidence relies on human memory and perception.

It's easy to become confused by the many different terms in the legal field. The more you learn, such as probation and parole, civil case versus criminal case, and misdemeanor versus felony, the more confident you may feel as you navigate the legal system for the first time.