Bill would classify crimes
BENNINGTON — A legislative committee in Vermont has advanced a bill that would create a group to recommend a classification system for criminal offenses.
Sen. Dick Sears, a Bennington Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Vermont doesn’t have a system similar to other states, which have minor misdemeanors, minor felons and major felonies.
Sears told the Bennington Banner that any crime that has a sentence of less than two years is considered a misdemeanor. A felony charge requires a sentence of more than two years in prison. He said most offenses have no minimum sentence or recommended average sentence.
Sears said when an embezzlement of $5 million is equal to an embezzlement for $10, something is wrong.