Lawyer Talk- Time to Get Street Smart!

I really should create an alert on my calendar to blog. My cases just seem to be getting in the way:)

So I was thinking today about how you pick up lingo by being on the streets and/or in the criminal justice system, albeit willingly or not.

So I am going to share some lawyer and street talk on here, and then I am going to periodically post it to my facebook as well, Ashley Jones Law ( you better “like” it!)

One of the first lingos that I am going to share is how we categorize our crimes in Ohio- My fiance finally asked me what I was talking abot with F-1’s and M-3’s and etc. F-1 is a first degree felony. Felonies range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the most serious and with a potential 3-11 years in prison. Kidnapping is a first degree felony. So, F-1, F-2, etc.

Same type of system with misdemeanors, but they range from M-1’s to MM’s. M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4, and minor misdemeanor or MM. M-1’s are the most serious and they come with a possibility of 180 days in jail. Speeding tickets are minor misdemeanors (so is marijuana possession)

Make sense? Ok, let’s move on to some other lingo.

Something you hear lawyers say a lot is kicking a case. That is when you get a continuance on a case. So we pick up the lingo of saying, let’s kick this for 2 weeks and come back.

How about catching a case? That’s more of a street term, but it’s something that makes its way into the criminal justice system. Catching a case (like catching a cold) is not good. It’s when are are arrested and charged.

Sometimes after you catch a catch, you end up on paper. What’s that?

Being on paper is being on  probation, or what is in fancy circles, being on community control.

So if you are on paper, you are on probation, and you have a jail or prison sentence that has been suspended. We often describe it as hanging over your head (i.e. suspended) and the effect of that is that if someone who is on paper, on probation, does something to violate their probation, that suspended prison sentence can come down on them.

In terms of prison, we often say that someone has been down to indicate that they have previously been sent to prison, or we say that they have a number already (meaning they have had other cases).

That’s it for today kids, but check back soon and like Ashley Jones Law on facebook!