LAWS

Law are there to help us live in peace and order. There are good laws and bad laws,and of course,
different kinds of laws. One type of laws limit some activity for a group of people who are of a certain age.
For example, you can’t drive a car in many parts of the United States if you’re younger than 16.
There are also the ‘age of majority’ laws that determine when you’re a child and when you’re an adult.

Breaking laws can be punished in different ways too. When you break laws, it can be an infraction,
misdemeanour or felony. An infraction is a small offense (it’s not a big crime), and you get a fine for breaking the law.
For example, if you run the red light, it’s an infraction, but if you hit and injure somebody with your car,
it’s a misdemeanour. You may go to prison for a misdemeanour, but it won’t be more than a year.
A felony is a very serious crime. For instance, if you break into a home, burn someone’s house or kill a person,
you go to prison for a long time and may have to pay big fines.

Some laws are universal. That means in every part of the world, they are the same or similar.
However, a lot of laws are local. For example, in the United States,
some crimes are felonies in some states while the same crimes are misdemeanours in other states.
It sounds crazy, but it’s true.