U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Federal Justice Statistics: Reconciled Data
Federal Criminal Case Processing, 2002
January 2005, NCJ 207447
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Lawrence A. Greenfeld, Director
This Bureau of Justice Statistics Report was prepared by the Urban Institute
under the supervision of Steven K. Smith and Mark Motivans of the Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS). This report was prepared under BJS grant number
2001BJCXK027. Principal staff at the Urban Institute were Laura Winterfield,
William Adams, Avi Bhati, Kamala Mallik Kane, Barbara Parthasarathy, Juliet
Scarpa, and Yan Yuan. Layout and design were provided by Mick Schommer. Tom
Hester of BJS provided editorial review.
This report is made possible through the cooperation of the following Federal
agencies and their staffs: The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC), the Executive
Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
The staff who provided expert advice about the source records include: Joe
Briggs (USMS);Steven Schlesinger and Catherine Whitaker (AOUSC);Siobhan Sperin
and Barbara Tone (EOUSA); and Sue Allison and Nancy Miller (BOP).
BJS authorizes any person to reproduce, publish, translate, or otherwise use
all or any part of the material in this publication; citation to source,
however, is appreciated.
An electronic version of this report and the data underlying graphics may be
found on the BJS Internet Home Page . The
BJS sponsored Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center (FJSRC) Internet Home
Page provides online access to the Federal Justice
database. Users may download data from the Federal Justice database for
independent analysis or use the online query system to quickly obtain
customized statistics.
To order additional copies of this report or CDROMs containing the Federal
Justice database, call the BJS Clearinghouse at 18007323277.
Office of Justice Programs
Partnerships for Safer Communities
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
Contents
Highlights, 1
Introduction, 3
Federal criminal case processing, 2002, 5
Tables and figures
Methodology, 17
The Federal justice database
Table construction and interpretation
Offense classifications
Classification level
Estimations
Statistics appearing in Federal Criminal Case Processing, 2002
Appendix, 25
Tables
Tables
Federal criminal case processing, 2002, 5
October 1, 2001 - September 30, 2002
1. Suspects arrested for Federal offenses and booked by USMS, by offense
2. Suspects in criminal matters investigated by U.S. attorneys, by offense
3. Disposition of suspects in matters concluded by U.S. attorneys, by
offense
4. Defendants in cases proceeded against in U.S. district courts, by
offense
5. Disposition of defendants in cases terminated in U.S. district courts, by
offense
6. Sanctions imposed on offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district
courts, by offense
7. Criminal appeals filed, by type of criminal case and offense
8. Offenders under Federal supervision, by offense
9. Federal prison admissions and releases, by offense
Methodology, 17
M.1. Breakout of main category offenses
M.2. Source agencies for data tables in Federal Criminal Case Processing
Appendix, 25
A.1. Suspects arrested for Federal offenses and booked by USMS, by offense,
1994-2002
A.2. Suspects in criminal matters investigated by U.S. attorneys, by offense,
1994-2002
A.3. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. attorneys, by offense,
1994-2002
A.4. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. attorneys: Number
prosecuted before U.S. district court judge, by offense, 1994-2002
A.5. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. magistrates, by offense,
1994-2002
A.6. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. attorneys: Number
declined prosecution, by offense, 1994-2002
A.7. Defendants in cases proceeded against in U.S. district courts,
by offense, 1994-2002
A.8. Defendants in cases terminating in U.S. district courts, by offense,
1994-2002
A.9. Defendants in cases terminating in U.S. district courts: Percent
convicted, by offense, 1994-2002
A.10. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts, by offense,
1994-2002
A.11. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts: Number
sentenced to prison, by offense, 1994-2002
A.12. Criminal appeals filed, by offense, 1994-2002
A.13. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts: Number
sentenced to probation only, by offense, 1994-2002
A.14. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts: Mean
number of months of imprisonment imposed, by offense, 1994-2002
A.15. Offenders under Federal supervision, by offense, 1994-2002
A.16. Population at the end of the year in Federal prisons, by offense,
1994-2002
Figures
Highlights, 1
Figure H.1. Federal criminal case processing, October 1, 2001 - September 30,
2002
Figure H.2. Number of offenders under Federal correctional supervision,
September 30, 2002
Federal criminal case processing, 2002, 5
Figure 1. Number of suspects in criminal matters investigated by U.S.
attorneys, by selected offenses, 1982-2002
Figure 2. Number of defendants in criminal cases terminated in U.S.
district court, by selected offenses, 1982-2002
Figure 3. Defendants convicted in U.S. district court: Percentage
sentenced to prison, by selected offenses, 1982-2002
Figure 4. Number of offenders under Federal supervision, by type of
supervision, 1987-2002
Figure 5. U.S. district court commitments and first releases from Federal
prison, by expected or actual time in prison, 1986-2002
Highlights
* During 2002, U.S. attorneys initiated investigations involving 124,335
suspects for possible violations of Federal law. Almost a third (31%) of
those investigated were suspected of a drug violation.
* Between 1994 and 2002, investigations initiated by U.S. attorneys have
increased 25% -- from 99,251 to 124,335. Investigations for immigration
violations increased from 5,526 to 16,699; for drug offenses, investigations
increased from 29,311 to 38,150.
* U.S. attorneys declined to prosecute a smaller proportion of those
investigated, as declinations of matters concluded decreased from 36% during
1994 to 27% during 2002.
* During 2002, 124,074 suspects were arrested by Federal law enforcement
agencies for possible violation of Federal law. Just over 27% of all arrests
were for drug offenses, 21% for immigration offenses, 18% for supervision
violations, 14% for property offenses, 6% for weapon offenses, 4% for violent
offenses, and 3% to secure and safeguard a material witness.
* Between 1994 and 2002, the number of defendants charged in criminal cases
filed in U.S. district court increased 41%, from 62,327 to 87,727. The
number of defendants charged with an immigration offense increased from 2,453
to 13,101, while the number charged with a drug offense increased from 20,275
to 30,673.
* During 2002 criminal cases involving 80,424 defendants were concluded in
U.S. district court. Of these, 89% were convicted. Almost all (96%) of those
convicted pleaded guilty or no contest.
* Drug prosecutions have comprised an increasing proportion of the Federal
criminal caseload -- from 21% of defendants in cases terminating in U.S.
district court during 1982 to 36% during 2002.
* Since implementation of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, the proportion
of defendants sentenced to prison increased from 54% during 1988 to 75%
during 2002. The proportion of drug offenders sentenced to prison increased
from 79% to 91%.
* Prison sentences imposed increased slightly from 55.1 months during 1988
to 57.1 months during 2002. For drug offenses, prison sentences increased
from 71.3 months to 76.0 months; for weapon offenses, sentences imposed
increased from 52.3 months to 83.8 months.
* Time expected to be served in prison, on average, increased from 26.9
months for offenders admitted during 1988 to 46.1 months for offenders
admitted during 2002. For drug offenses, the amount of time an incoming
offender could expect to serve increased from 39.3 months to 62.4 months;
for weapon offenses, expected time served increased from 32.4 months to
64.5 months.
* During 2002 the U.S. Court of Appeals received 11,569 criminal appeals,
of which 9,764 were guidelines-based appeals. Fifty-eight percent of these
appeals challenged both the conviction and the sentence imposed.
* During 2002, 107,367 offenders were under Federal community supervision.
Supervised release has become the primary form of supervision in the Federal
system: 68% of offenders were on supervised release compared to 28% on
probation, and 3% remaining on parole.
* On September 30, 2002, 143,031 offenders were serving a prison sentence
in Federal prison; 57% were incarcerated for a drug offense; 11% for an
immigration offense; 10% for a violent offense; 10% for a weapon offense;
7% for a property offense; and 6% for all other offenses.
Introduction
Federal Criminal Case Processing, 2002, fourth in an annual series, provides
statistics that describe defendants processed at different stages of the
Federal criminal justice system for the 12-month period ending September 30,
2002. Also included are figures describing trends in Federal criminal case
processing during the 1982-2002 period.
The data presented are compiled from the BJS Federal justice database. The
Federal justice database is comprised of data provided by the U.S. Marshals
Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Executive Office for the
U.S. Attorneys, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the U.S.
Sentencing Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts provides data describing the Federal
court docket -- criminal and appellate -- as well as pretrial services,
probation, parole, and supervised release.
The Federal justice database may be obtained electronically from the Federal
Justice Statistics Resource Center website at http://fjsrc.urban.org or on
CD-ROM from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Clearinghouse.
For more detailed information on obtaining the Federal justice database, see
page ii.
Statistics presented in this report include the number of suspects arrested
by Federal law enforcement agencies for violations of Federal law, the number
of suspects investigated by U.S. attorneys for violations of Federal law, the
outcome of U.S. attorney investigations (prosecution or declination), the
number of defendants prosecuted in U.S. district courts, the outcome of
criminal cases (convicted or not convicted), sanctions imposed on defendants
convicted (type of sentence imposed and length of imprisonment), the number
and type of criminal appeals filed, and the number of offenders under Federal
correctional supervision -- prison, probation, parole, and supervised release.
A related publication, the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, provides
more detail on many of the statistics presented in this report -- including
statistics describing 40 offense categories and statistics on case processing
matters not covered in this report, such as pretrial release and demographic
characteristics of offenders.
Several case processing statistics presented in this report have previously
been reported by the individual agencies. However, because these agencies
use different criteria to collect, tabulate, and report on case processing
events, statistics published by each of the agencies may not be directly
comparable. In this report, BJS has attempted to reconcile differences in
data collection and reporting to present comparable statistics across stages
of the Federal criminal justice system. For a description of the
reconciliation effort and the methodology employed, see Comparing Case
Processing Statistics (NCJ 169274) and Reconciling Federal Criminal Case
Processing Statistics (NCJ 171680).
Since many terms and concepts used in this report have specialized meanings
-- either because they refer to specific provisions of Federal law or they
refer to procedures used by agencies supplying the data – readers are
encouraged to reference the glossary of the Compendium of Federal Justice
Statistics for definitions of concepts.
Modifications to Federal Criminal Case Processing, 2002
Although not shown separately in the tables, the FY 2002 data marked the
introduction of two new detailed offense categories, "wildlife offenses" and
"environmental offenses." According to the reporting practices of this report,
these two detailed offenses are grouped under the major offense category,
"Public-order offenses, Other" in the tables.
Tables
October 1, 2001 September 30, 2002
1. Suspects arrested for Federal offenses and booked by USMS, by offense
2. Suspects in criminal matters investigated by U.S. attorneys, by offense
3. Disposition of suspects in matters concluded by U.S. attorneys, by offense
4. Defendants in cases proceeded against in U.S. district courts, by offense
5. Disposition of defendants in cases terminated in U.S. district courts, by
offense
6. Sanctions imposed on offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district
courts, by offense
7. Criminal appeals filed, by type of criminal case and offense
8. Offenders under Federal supervision, by offense
9. Federal prison admissions and releases, by offense
Figures
1. Number of suspects in criminal matters investigated by U.S. attorneys,
by category of offense, 1982-2002
2. Number of defendants in criminal cases terminated in U.S. district court,
by category of offense, 1982-2002
3. Defendants convicted in U.S. district court: Percentage sentenced to
prison, by category of offense, 1982-2002
4. Number of offenders under Federal super-vision, by type of supervision,
1987-2002
5. U.S. district court commitments and first releases from Federal prison,
by expected or actual time in prison, 1986-2002
Methodology
The Federal justice database
Source of data
The source of data for all tables in Federal Criminal Case Processing
is the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Federal justice database. The
database is presently constructed from source files provided by the U.S.
Marshals Service (USMS), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), the Administrative Office of
the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC),
and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). AOUSC also maintains the data
collected by the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Federal Probation and
Supervision Information System (FPSIS). Federal law prohibits the use of
these files for any purpose other than research or statistics. A description
of the source agency data files is provided in table M.2 at the end of this
section.
Data universe
The universe of the BJS Federal justice database includes criminal suspects
investigated for violations of Federal criminal law, criminal suspects
arrested for violations of Federal criminal law, defendants in cases filed
in U.S. district courts, and offenders entering Federal corrections and
correctional supervision.
The universe of criminal suspects arrested is all suspects arrested by the
Federal law enforcement agencies (including the USMS), state agencies, and
self-reported arrests and transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals
Service for processing, transportation, and detention.
The universe of criminal suspects is limited to those whose matters were
investigated by U.S. attorneys and in which the investigation took at least
one hour of a U.S. attorney's time.
The universe of defendants in Federal criminal courts is limited to those
defendants whose cases were filed in a U.S. district court, whether before
a U.S. district court judge or a U.S. magistrate. This includes all felony
defendants, Class A misdemeanant defendants, and those defendants charged
with petty offenses and handled by a U.S. district court judge.
The universe of incarcerated offenders includes all sentenced offenders under
the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons regardless of the source of
their commitment (e.g., U.S. district court, State court, or military court,
or return from a violation of conditions of supervision) or length of
sentence. This may include some offenders who were convicted of immigration
offenses who were committed for petty offenses. It does not include those
offenders who were convicted of violations of the District of Columbia
criminal code unless they were committed by a Federal district court judge.
The universe of supervised offenders includes persons entering and exiting
terms of Federal supervision, and persons under Federal supervision during
the fiscal year. Supervision types include probation, parole, and supervised
release. Included amongst parole supervisees are those under two less common
types of "old law" supervision (sentenced prior to the implementation of the
Sentencing Reform Act of 1984): mandatory release and special release.
Excluded from the supervised population counts are offenders supervised under
military laws (military parole) and convicted organizations under supervision.
The universe of suspects, defendants, and offenders varies from table to
table in this report, depending on the definition of the statistic reported
and the source of the data.
Reporting period
Wherever possible, matters or cases have been selected according to some
event which occurred during fiscal year 2002 (October 1, 2001, through
September 30, 2002). Some data files provided by source agencies are
organized according to a calendar year time frame; these have been combined
and divided into fiscal years for purposes of this report. Files organized
by their source agencies according to fiscal year include some pertinent
records in later years' files. For example, tabulations of suspects in
matters concluded during fiscal year 2002 have been assembled from source
files containing records of 2002 matters concluded which were entered into
the data system during fiscal years 2001 or 2002.
In the figures showing trends in Federal criminal case processing, information
is presented for a period between 1982 and 2002. Data from the EOUSA are
estimated from 1982 through 1993, as data prior to 1993 included appeals
information not included in the subsequent years. Because of changes in the
reporting and collection of data over time, data collected prior to 1994 from
AOUSC and EOUSA were reported on a calendar-year basis; data collected from
1994-2002 are on a fiscal-year basis. The figures are marked and noted
according to the period of measurement. In figure 4, data collected from FPSIS
reflect the supervised population as of June 30 for the period of 1987-1994,
and the population as of September 30 for the period of 1995-2002. In figure
5, data collected from BOP, presented from 1985-2002, are reported on a
fiscal-year basis.
Table construction and interpretation
Universe in each table
The universe in table 1 is suspects arrested for violations of Federal
criminal law and transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The universe in tables 2 and 3, and figure 1 is suspects in criminal
matters investigated by U.S. attorneys. A person appearing in multiple
matters will be counted separately for each matter. Matters include
criminal proceedings handled exclusively by U.S. attorneys, or in which
U.S. attorneys provided assistance and spent at least one hour of
time.
The universe in tables 4, 5, and 6, as well as figures 2 and 3, is
defendants adjudicated and sentenced in U.S. district court. Included
are defendants charged with felonies, Class A and B misdemeanors,
and petty offenses if the petty offenses are handled by U.S. district
court judges. Defendants who appear in more than one case are
counted separately for each distinct case in which they appear.
Defendants may have been charged under "old law" (pre-Sentencing
Reform Act) or "new law" (post-Sentencing Reform Act) standards.
The universe in table 7 is criminal appeals filed in the U.S. Court of
Appeals. Appeals filed include both Preguidelines- and Guidelines-based
appeals. The Sentencing Reform Act allowed for the appeal of sentences
imposed, where previously only the conviction could be appealed.
The universe in table 8 and figure 4 is offenders entering, exiting, or
under active supervision. Active supervision includes supervisees who
report regularly to their supervising officers. Excluded are offenders
released to military parole and offenders who are under community
release prior to sentencing.
The universe in table 9 and figure 5 is sentenced Federal offenders
committed into Federal prison facilities -- regardless of the court from
which they were committed and regardless of the length of sentence.
Federal prison facilities include BOP facilities, as well as private and
contract facilities. The universe includes primarily offenders committed
from U.S. district courts by U.S. district court judges, but also includes
those committed by U.S. magistrates, military courts, and some State
courts. In addition, it includes offenders who violated conditions of
supervised release and who were returned to prison for their violations
rather than from a court commitment. It does not include offenders
committed for violations of the District of Columbia criminal code unless
they were committed by a Federal district court judge.
Unit of analysis
The unit of analysis in tables 1 through 7 is a combination of a person
(or corporation) and a matter or case. For example, if a single person
is involved in three different criminal cases during the time period
specified in the table, he or she is counted three times in the tabulation.
Similarly, if a single criminal case involves a corporate defendant and
four individual defendants, it counts five times in the tabulation.
In tables 8 and 9, the unit of analysis for incarceration, probation, parole,
or other supervised release is a person entering custody or supervision, or
a person leaving custody or supervision. For example, a person convicted in
two concurrent cases and committed once to the custody of the BOP in the
indicated time period is counted as one admission to a term of incarceration.
A person who leaves a BOP facility, reenters, and leaves again in the same
fiscal-year period would be counted as one admission and two releases. A
person who terminates probation twice in the indicated time period, such as
with a violation and again after reinstatement, is counted as two
terminations of probation.
Interpretation
The data presented in this report are a statistical presentation of offenders
processed in the Federal criminal justice system. The tables presented
describe the number of offenders processed and the outcome of that processing
at each stage of the Federal criminal justice system. Because many tables
represent different cross-sections of offenders, comparisons across tables
are not necessarily valid.
Offense classifications
Procedure
The offense classification procedure used in this report is based on the
classification system followed by the AOUSC. Specific offenses in the
AOUSC classification are combined to form the BJS categories shown in this
report's tables.***Footnote: These categories correspond to the BJS crime
definitions and, to the extent possible, are organized and presented
consistent with BJS publications on State criminal justice systems.***
For data from USMS (table 1) offense categories are based on the FBI's
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) offense classifications, which are
converted into U.S. Marshals' four digit offense codes. These offense codes
are then aggregated into the offense categories shown in table 1.
For data from EOUSA (tables 2 and 3, figure 1), which include U.S. Code
citations but do not include the AOUSC offense classifications, U.S. Code
titles and sections are translated into the AOUSC classification system and
then aggregated into the offense categories used in the tables. Offense
categories for prisoners in table 9 are based on combinations of offense
designations used by BOP. They are similar to the categories in other
tables but may not be directly comparable.
Felony/misdemeanor distinctions
Felony and misdemeanor distinctions are provided where possible. Felony
offenses are those with a maximum penalty of more than 1 year in prison.
Misdemeanor offenses are those with a maximum penalty of 1 year or less.
Felonies and misdemeanors are further classified using the maximum term
of imprisonment authorized. Section 3559, U.S. Code, Title 18 classifies
offenses according to the following schedule:
Felonies
Class A felony -- life imprisonment, or if the maximum penalty is death.
Class B felony -- 25 years or more.
Class C felony -- less than 25 years but more than 10 years.
Class D felony -- less than 10 years but more than 5 years.
Class E felony -- less than 5 years but more than 1 year.
Misdemeanors
Class A misdemeanor -- 1 year or less but more than 1 month.
Class B misdemeanor -- 6 months or less but more than 30 days.
Class C misdemeanor -- 30 days or less but more than 5 days.
Infraction -- 5 days or less, or if no imprisonment is authorized.
In this report, felony and misdemeanor distinctions are provided where the
data permit these distinctions. Tables 1, 2, and 3 do not use this
distinction because many suspects cannot be so classified at the
investigation stage in the criminal justice process. Table 7 does not
use this distinction because the Court of Appeals data do not allow for
such a breakout. Table 9 does not use this distinction because BOP offense
categories do not allow for such a breakout. None of the figures showing
trend data report this distribution.
Figures 2 and 3 display data by major offense category but do not show the
felony/misdemeanor distinction. Therefore, the data points for major
offense categories represented on the trend lines will not match the data
in Appendix tables A.7, A.9, and A.10, respectively, nor will the 2002
data points match the data for major offense categories in tables 5 and 6.
Classification level
Offenses in the tables in this report are classified, at the most general
level, into felony and misdemeanor categories. Felonies are then broken out
by six main level offense classifications: violent, property, drug,
public-order, weapon, and immigration offenses. Property and public-order
offenses are broken out into two sublevels. The main-level and sub-group
categories are composed of individual offense types. Where the data source
allows, drug offenses are broken out into the individual offense level.
"Other public-order offenses" include a limited breakout at the individual
offense type level. Table M.1 shows a list of specific offenses under each
offense category.
Offense categories
For offenses referred to in table M.1, the following conditions apply:
"Murder" includes nonnegligent manslaughter.
"Sexual abuse" includes only violent sex offenses. Beginning in 1999,
nonviolent sex offenses, such as prostitution, were included in a
separate category, "Nonviolent sex offenses." Therefore, the 2002
tables are not directly comparable with the appendix tables in this
report, or with older editions of this report.
"Fraud" excludes tax fraud.
"Larceny" excludes transportation of stolen property.
"Other property felonies" excludes fraudulent property offenses, and
includes destruction of property and trespass.
"Tax law violations" includes tax fraud.
"Obscene material" denotes the mail or transport thereof.
"All other felonies" includes felonies with unclassifiable offense type.
"Misdemeanors" includes misdemeanors, petty offenses, and unknown offense
levels.
"Drug possession" also includes other drug misdemeanors.
Most serious offense selection
Where more than one offense is charged or adjudicated, the most serious
offense (the one that may or did result in the most severe sentence)is used
to classify offenses. The offense description may change as the criminal
justice process proceeds. Tables indicate whether investigated, charged,
or adjudicated offenses are used.
In tables 2 and 3, the most serious offense is based on the criminal
lead charge as determined by the assistant U.S. attorney responsible
for the criminal proceeding.
In tables 4 and 5, the most serious offense charged is the one that has
the most severe potential sentence.
For table 6, conviction offenses are based on the disposition offenses
having the most severe penalty.
In table 7, an offense is classified into the category that represents the
underlying offense of conviction, based on the disposition offense with
the most severe sentence.
In table 8, the most serious offense of conviction is either the one
having the longest sentence imposed, or, if equal sentences were
imposed or there was no imprisonment, it was the offense carrying the
highest severity code as determined by AOUSC's offense severity
code ranking.
In table 9, prisoners are classified according to the offense which
bears the longest single incarceration sentence.
Estimations
Several methods were used to estimate the trend data in this report.
Estimated number of suspectsin criminal matters
Because of a change in the reporting protocol for information received from
the EOUSA effective with fiscal year 1994 data, it was necessary to estimate
certain statistics for years 1982-1993. Prior to 1994, reports of the number
of suspects in criminal matters included appellants in Federal criminal
appeals. Because full-source agency data prior to 1994 could not be accessed,
an estimation procedure was used to estimate the number of appellants within
main offense categories and then subtract them from the number of suspects in
criminal matters which included appellants. The procedure is described in
the following paragraphs.
The objective was to estimate the number of appellants included in reports
of the number of suspects in criminal matters. This is denoted below as AEO.
Using existing data on appellants derived from alternative sources, such as
AOUSC reports, an estimator was developed based on the assumption that the
ratio of appellants to defendants plus appellants in the EOUSA data was
equal to the observed ratio of appellants to appellants plus defendants in
the AOUSC data, or:
----------------------------------------
The number of AO appellants divided by the
sum of AO appellants plus AO defendants is
equal to the number of EO appellants divided
by the sum of EO appellants plus EO defendants
where:
AAO = number of AO appellants
DAO = number of AO defendants
AEO = number of EO appellants
DEO = number of EO defendants
Solving for AEO yields:
Solving for the number of EO appellants yields
the following: AO appellants divided by the sum
of AO appellants plus AO defendants and multiplying
the result by the sum of EO appellants plus EO
defendants
------------------------------------------------
Solving for AEO yields the estimator above. This estimator was used to
produce estimates each year between 1982 and 1993 using data from these
years. The estimated number of appellants in suspects in criminal matters
was subtracted from the reported number to derive the estimated number of
suspects in criminal matters. These were used in figure 1. These estimates
were done at the level of offense category (violent, property, drugs, and
public-order).
Estimated expected time to be served for offenders entering prison The
methodology for estimating expected time to be served to first release
for prisoners entering the BOP system from a district court commitment
involves grouping prisoners by their fiscal year of entry. Once this
grouping has occurred, each prisoner is classified into one
of the following categories:
a) a prisoner who has been released in 2002;
b) a prisoner still incarcerated at the end of 2002 who was sentenced
prior to the passage of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (an "old
law" prisoner);
c) a prisoner still incarcerated at the end of 2002 who was sentenced
after to the passage of the Sentencing Reform Act (a "new law"
prisoner).
For prisoners in category (a) actual time served is recorded. For those
prisoners in category (b), an estimate of time to be served is used,
based on the mean time served by similar prisoners in previous entering
years (1985-98). For prisoners in category (c) sentenced to more than 1
year, time to be served is 87% of the sentence imposed, which is the
minimum sentence to be served under the Sentencing Reform Act. For prisoners
in category (c) sentenced to 1 year or less, time to be served is equal to
the sentence imposed.
Statistics appearing in Federal Criminal Case Processing, 2002
The statistics appearing in this report are as follows:
Table 1. Suspects arrested
This is the number of suspects arrested by Federal law enforcement agencies
for violations of Federal law and transferred to the custody of the U.S.
Marshals Service for booking and pretrial detention. Not included are
suspects arrested by Federal agencies and transferred directly to the
custody of a State prosecutor.
Table 2. Suspects in matters investigated by U.S. attorneys This is the
number of suspects in criminal matters whom U.S. attorneys spent at least
one hour investigating. It excludes suspects whose matters were immediately
declined or whose matters were received via transfer from another district.
An immediate declination is one in which a U.S. attorney declines to
prosecute a criminal matter without investigating the matter. Suspects may
include persons, corporations, or other legal entities. Matters are limited
to criminal matters investigated by U.S. attorneys or matters in which U.S.
attorneys assisted in the investigation. Suspects appearing in more than one
matter are counted separately for each matter.
Table 3. Suspects in matters concluded by U.S. attorneys
This is the number of suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S.
attorneys, regardless of the year in which the criminal matter was opened.
A matter is defined as concluded when a U.S. attorney files a case in a
U.S. district court before a U.S. district court judge, when a U.S. attorney
declines to prosecute the matter, or when a misdemeanor case is concluded
before a U.S. magistrate. The table excludes suspects whose matter was
declined immediately or whose matter was concluded by transfer. Suspects in
matters concluded may include persons, corporations, or other legal entities
and are limited to the suspects investigated or prosecuted by U.S. attorneys,
or in which U.S. attorneys assisted in the investigation or prosecution.
Suspects appearing in more than one matter are counted separately for each
matter.
Table 4. Defendants in cases commenced
This is the number of defendants in cases proceeded in U.S. district court,
either before a U.S. district court judge or a U.S. magistrate. Proceedings
are initiated on or after the date a case is filed in a U.S. district court.
Included in the count are defendants in cases handled by U.S. district court
judges plus Class A misdemeanors, whether handled by a U.S. district court
judge or a U.S. magistrate. Also included are defendants in cases involving
petty offenses (Class B or C misdemeanors) if they were handled by U.S.
district court judges. These cases included all cases commenced regardless
of the source of prosecution -- U.S. attorneys or Department of Justice.
Excluded from this count are defendants whose cases were opened by transfer
from another district (e.g., a Rule 20 or Rule 40 transfer). Defendants
appearing in more than one case are counted separately in each case.
Table 5. Defendants in cases terminated
This is the number of defendants whose cases were terminated in U.S. district
court. A case is terminated if a defendant is found not guilty, the charges
are dismissed, or when a defendant is sentenced, if he or she was convicted.
Included in the count are defendants in cases handled by U.S. district court
judges plus Class A misdemeanors, whether handled by a U.S. district court
judge or a U.S. magistrate. Also included are defendants in cases involving
petty offenses (Class B or C misdemeanors) if they were handled by U.S.
district court judges. These cases included all cases commenced regardless
of the source of prosecution -- U.S. attorneys or Department of Justice.
Excluded from this count are defendants whose cases were opened by transfer
from another district (e.g., a Rule 20 or Rule 40 transfer). Defendants
appearing in more than one case are counted separately in each case.
Defendants are classified as convicted if they pleaded guilty, nolo
contendere, or if they are found guilty at trial. Defendants convicted by
trial included those found guilty by reason of insanity. Defendants not
convicted includes defendants whose cases were dismissed and those who were
acquitted or found not guilty at trial.
Table 6. Defendants sentenced
This is the number of defendants sentenced in U.S. district court. Included
are defendants sentenced in cases handled by U.S. district court judges plus
Class A misdemeanors, whether handled by a U.S. district court judge or a
U.S. magistrate. Also included are defendants sentenced for petty offenses
(Class B or C misdemeanors) if they were handled by U.S. district court
judges. These cases included all cases commenced regardless of the source
of prosecution -- U.S.
attorneys or Department of Justice. Excluded from this count are
defendants whose cases were opened by transfer from another district
(e.g., a Rule 20 or Rule 40 transfer). Defendants appearing in more
than one case are counted separately in each case.
The sanctions shown in table 5 include imprisonment only, mixed sentences
of prison plus supervision, probation, and fine only. Imprisonment is
limited to defendants receiving terms of imprisonment but no probation,
including life and death sentences, but excluding suspended sentences or
sentences to fewer than 4 days. New law offenders receiving prison-
community split sentences (prison and conditions of alternative community
confinement) are also included. Mixed sentences include defendants given
sentences of both prison and probation (applies to offenders sentenced under
"old law" standards only). Probation includes defendants given sentences of
probation. Defendants who received probation plus conditions of confinement
such as intermittent confinement, home detention, or community confinement
are classified under probation. Fine only includes defendants who received
only a fine. Other sentences include sealed sentences, prison sentences of
4 days or less, deportations, and cases in which the defendant was convicted
but not given a sentence. The statistics on mean and median prison sentences
are based on the number given prison exclusive of life and death sentences.
For offenders given prison-community split sentences, only the prison
sentence length is included in the calculation.
Table 7. Criminal appeals filed
This table reports the number of criminal appeals filed in the U.S. Court of
Appeals. Prior to implementation of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, only
criminal convictions could be appealed. However, the Sentencing Reform Act
provided for the appellate review of sentences imposed given that the
sentence was (1) imposed in violation of the law; (2) imposed as the result
of an incorrect sentencing guideline application; (3) outside the recommended
guideline sentencing range; or (4) imposed for an offense for which no
sentencing guideline exists and is plainly unreasonable. Both the defendant
and the Government have the right to appeal an imposed sentence (18 U.S.C.
sec 3742).
Table 8. Offenders under Federal supervision
This table reports the number of offenders under active supervision at the
close of the fiscal year. It includes offenders under three forms of
supervision: probation, supervised release, and parole. Included in parole
supervisees are those under two less common types of "old law" (sentenced
prior to the implementation of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984), mandatory
release and special release. The unit of analysis is a unique person released
on supervision.
Table 9. Prisoners
This table reports the number of sentenced Federal offenders committed into
the custody of the BOP, released from this custody, or in Federal prison.
"Into the custody of" includes prisoners in BOP facilities, contract
facilities, and private facilities. Contract facilities generally house
offenders prior to release from prison. Sentenced offenders include felony,
misdemeanor, and petty offenders sentenced to prison for Federal offenses
regardless of the judge -- U.S. district court judge or U.S. magistrate --
who sentenced the offender. Table 9 does not include those offenders who
were convicted of violations of the District of Columbia criminal code
unless they were committed by a Federal district court judge. The unit of
analysis is a unique person in Federal prison. The unit of count for
prisoner movements is based on admissions and releases into and from Federal
prison. A unique person may appear more than once in a column showing
admissions and releases if that person was admitted or released from Federal
prison more than once during the reporting period.
Included in the counts of district court commitments are offenders
sentenced from district courts. This includes some offenders sentenced by
U.S. magistrates. Other admissions include offenders committed from other
courts and offenders returning to prison for violations of conditions of
supervised release. A first release is defined as a release from a district
court commitment. Other releases include releases of offenders who were
serving terms for violating conditions of supervised release -- offenders
who were committed on other than a district court commitment.
Appendix
Tables
A.1. Arrests for Federal offenses, by offense,1994-2002
A.2. Suspects in criminal matters investigated by U.S. attorneys, by
offense, 1994-2002
A.3. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. attorneys, by offense,
1994-2002
A.4. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. attorneys: Number
prosecuted before U.S. district court judge, by offense,1994-2002
A.5. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. magistrates, by
offense, 1994-2002
A.6. Suspects in criminal matters concluded by U.S. attorneys: Number
declined prosecution, by offense, 1994-2002
A.7. Defendants in cases proceeded against in U.S. district courts, by
offense,1994-2002
A.8. Defendants in cases terminating in U.S. district courts, by offense,
1994-2002
A.9. Defendants in cases terminating in U.S. district courts: Percent
convicted, by offense, 1994-2002
A.10. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts, by offense,
1994-2002
A.11. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts: Number
sentenced to prison, by offense, 1994-2002
A.12. Criminal appeals filed, by offense, 1994-2002
A.13. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts: Number
sentenced to probation only, by offense, 1994-2002
A.14. Offenders convicted and sentenced in U.S. district courts: Mean
number of months of imprisonment imposed, by offense,1994-2002
A.15. Offenders under Federal supervision, by offense, 1994-2002
A.16. Population at the end of the year in Federal prisons, by
offense, 1994-2002
End of file
01/12/05 ih