A misdemeanor is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences. Typically, misdemeanors are punished with prison time of no longer than one year, monetary fines, or community service.
In the US, graffiti is a common form of misdemeanor vandalism, although in many states it is now a felony.
Possession of cannabis may be an unclassified misdemeanor in parts of the US.
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of hated or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular action or behavior that is deemed undesirable or unacceptable. It is, however, possible to distinguish between various different understandings of what punishment is.
The old village stocks in Chapeltown, Lancashire, England
A modern jail cell
Hester Prynne at the Stocks—an engraved illustration from an 1878 edition of The Scarlet Letter
Punishment of an offender in Hungary, 1793