BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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The Prosecution and Adjudication Statistics Unit examines criminal and civil cases as they are processed through the judicial system, as well as the organizations that play key roles in the judicial process. The unit also oversees several specialized projects that focus on specific crimes, offenders, and systems, such as human trafficking, juveniles processed in state court systems, and tribal justice systems.

At the state level, BJS provides data on state court sentencing of convicted felons and criminal justice processing of persons charged with felonies. The adjudication and sentencing data series provides the only national source of information on judicial decision-making and the manner in which cases are managed and adjudicated as they traverse the criminal justice system. Through this series, BJS prospectively tracks felons from arrest through final disposition to determine the outcomes of case decision-making at each decision-point in the justice system. The data series provides estimates on the number of felony defendants released pretrial, factors associated with pretrial release such as defendants rearrested and the role of commercial bail bondsmen, the number of persons convicted of a felony in state courts annually, the types of sentences they receive, and the demographic characteristics of persons convicted.
 
BJS also sponsors several projects that examine the adjudication of civil cases by bench or jury trial in a national sample of trial courts. The data collection provides information on the characteristics of plaintiffs and defendants as well as case processing and outcome characteristics, including post-verdict relief and appeals.

The work of offices and systems critical to the judicial process, including the provision of indigent defense services, prosecutors' offices, and aggregate information on the work of state court systems, are also examined by BJS Prosecution and Adjudication Unit. The Court Statistics Project (CSP) provides state-by-state data on civil and criminal workloads in all state and local courts including case type, case filings, case processing, disposition, and appellate opinions. Data collected from public defenders and prosecutors’ offices allow BJS to analyze staffing, caseloads and expenditures associated with prosecuting and defending criminal cases in the nation’s courts.

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Terms & Definitions

Adjudication The act of a court in making an order, judgment, or decree.
 
Appellate Courts Any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal.
 
Assigned counsel The appointment from a list of private bar members who accept cases on a judge-by- judge, court-by-court, or case-by-case basis. This may include an administrative component and a set of rules and guidelines governing the appointment and processing of cases handled by the private bar members.
 
Bench trial (nonjury trial) A trial held in the absence of a jury and decided by a judge culminating in a judgment for the plaintiff(s) or defendant(s).
 
Capital cases Crimes that can result in a death penalty.
 
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