Let's Reserve Felonies For Serious Crimes

Adam Graham applauds the effort of one of Idaho's legislators to get dog fighting turned into a felony:

At this point, I’d lean towards toughening our laws. We shouldn’t need a repeat of the dog holacaust that occurred at Michael Vick’s place to stir our legislature to action. Sadly, I think that’s what it may take.

As much as dog fighting repels me, I am a bit reluctant to make it into a felony. For most of American history, the distinction between a misdemeanor and a felony was quite dramatic.

Until the American Revolution, most felonies were punishable by death. For example, from the July 27, 1749 Pennsylvania Gazette, Mary Rogers was sentenced to death for burglary in Boston, and granted a reprieve by the governor only after the hood was over her head. From the June 22, 1749 Pennsylvania Gazette:

At a Court of Oyer and Terminer, held at Newcastle last Week, John Gillespie, and John Roach, were convicted of Burglary, and John Slain of Rape, and Sentence of death was passed upon them.

There are many similar examples available.

A felony conviction today takes away many of your rights. You lose the right to vote (in most states), to own a gun, to obtain certain professional licenses. And that loss is usually lifelong. Misdemeanors are generally not so severe. I think felonies should be reserved for only the most serious of crimes.

Dog fighting is primarily done because someone makes money holding these events, or gambling on the outcomes. Here's the current statute that prohibits it; here's the statute that specifies the penalty:

any person convicted for a first violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punished, for each offense, by a jail sentence of not more than six (6) months or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Since this is a crime done primarily for economic reasons, perhaps the better solution is to increase the penalties. Someone who makes a few thousand dollars at one of these events might think a little more deeply if the fine was in the $5000 to $50,000 range.