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Major Misdemeanor: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Some crimes are less serious than others. In "[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]", Jaywalking is typically thrown in just for laughs. However, sometimes the smallest crimes have really serious consequences. This trope is for when the crime is treated as minor and the consequences are a matter of punishment and ostracism.
Let's say that Bob jaywalks. Not a car within a thousand miles, perfectly safe. But a cop arrests him. This makes his boss consider Bob a "criminal", and fires him. His wife, not wanting to be married to an unemployed criminal, divorces him.
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Compare and contrast:
* [[All Crimes Are Equal]], when this trope is taken to its [[Logical Extreme]].
* [[Can't Get Away With Nuthin']], where the characters consider their actions harmless but the authors don't.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]], when characters seek ''serious'' vengeance for very minor offenses.
* [[Life Will Kill You]], where the authors do treat the misbehaviour as minor and forgivable but it still leads to disastrous accidents.
{{examples
== Comic Books ==
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** The movie explores a very difficult conundrum - if you are sent to jail wrongfully and kill another inmate while in detention, are you legally accountable for that crime that would have never happened if the wrongful sentence hadn't been given in the first place? Keep in mind that the accused here has limited mental capacities and ability to tell right from wrong.
* Played for absurdity in ''[[Dogma]]'', when the angel Loki murders an entire board of directors for being idolaters and for their various personal sins, except for one member of the board [[Guilt By Association Gag|who turns out to be a pure soul]]. He then threatens to murder her for not saying "God bless you" when he sneezed. {{spoiler|Bartleby talks him out of doing so.}}
* ''[[Pee
* Played for laughs in ''[[Mystery Team]]'', where sneaking into movies, sticking fingers into pies and taking two milks at lunch are [[Serious Business]]
* ''[[Horrible Bosses]]'': Dale got drunk at a bar that was next to a playground, and committed public urination. It was night, and there were no kids there, but he's still a registered sex offender.
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* The [[Weird Al Yankovic]] song ''Don't Download This Song''.
* Inverted in the Arlo Guthrie song "[[
== Newspaper Comics ==
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