Two people get charged with a crime on the same night. One's a misdemeanor, one's a felony. Here's how their life will be different in 5 years. Let's talk about it in terms of assault. One is a misdemeanor assault, the other is a felony because you used a weapon or you caused serious bodily injury. If you're convicted of a misdemeanor, then your punishment is up to 11 months and 29 days in jail or probation or combination of the two. If you're charged with a felony, then your punishment could be anywhere from 1 to maybe 12 or 15 years depending on the felony. You're going to lose your ability to vote. You're going to lose your ability to own and possess and you're going to have a felony conviction on your record probably for the rest of your life. Misdemeanors are obviously less serious on your record and cause fewer ramifications than a felony conviction would.