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Federal criminal cases may be brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, or other authorized law enforcement agencies, such as the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). The 93 U.S. attorneys serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers within their respective districts. Investigations are most commonly referred to a U.S. attorney by a federal investigative agency, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and U.S. Secret Service. Investigations are also referred by a state or local investigative agency. Investigations may also be initiated—and cases brought directly—by U.S. attorneys or by the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
After criminal investigations are initiated and criminal suspects are referred to them, U.S. attorneys may file charges against defendants in a U.S. district court, or they may file cases before U.S. magistrates, who have the authority to adjudicate misdemeanor offenses (18 U.S.C. § 3401). Due to the relatively less serious nature of misdemeanor cases, and because they are handled by magistrates, the U.S. attorneys count these cases as criminal matters disposed by U.S. magistrates. The decision to prosecute a suspect in a criminal matter depends on many factors, including the Attorney General's priorities, U.S. attorney priorities and resources, laws governing each type of offense, and the strength of evidence in each case.
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Immigration Offenders in the Federal Justice System, 2010
Presents data on criminal and civil immigration violations handled by the federal justice system over the last decade. |
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Press Release | PDF (1.8M) | ASCII file (23K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 67K)
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Federal Justice Statistics, 2009
Describes the annual activity, workloads, and outcomes associated with the federal criminal justice system from arrest to imprisonment, using data from Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. |
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Press Release | PDF (835K) | ASCII file (42K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 36K)
Part of the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics Series
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Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Courts, 1990-2006
Examines civil rights claims based on race, age, sex, or national origin involving employment, welfare, housing, voting, or other civil rights discrimination issues. |
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Press Release | PDF (137K) | ASCII file (31K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 22K) | To order paper version
Part of the Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Courts Series
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Federal Prosecution of Child Sex Exploitation Offenders, 2006
Presents Federal criminal case processing statistics on child sex offenses, including sex transportation, sexual abuse, and child pornography. |
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PDF (739K) | ASCII file (20K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 13K) | To order paper version
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Unidentified Human Remains in the United States, 1980-2004
Examines the number of unidentified persons reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC), National Death Index (NDI). |
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PDF (201K) | ASCII file (7K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 4K)
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Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004
Describes all aspects of processing in the Federal justice system, including numbers of persons prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, sentenced to probation, released pretrial, and under parole or other supervision. |
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Full Report (PDF 3M) | Full Report (ASCII file 185K) | Full Report - Zip format (Spreadsheet 83K) | Chapter 1: Arrests for Federal offenses (PDF 855K) | Chapter 1: Arrests for Federal offenses - Zip format (Spreadsheet 13K) | Chapter 2: Prosecution (PDF 1M) | Chapter 2: Prosecution - Zip format (Spreadsheet 12K) | Chapter 3: Pretrial release (PDF 856K) | Chapter 3: Pretrial release - Zip format (Spreadsheet 23K) | Chapter 4: Adjudication (PDF 745K) | Chapter 4: Adjudication - Zip format (Spreadsheet 9K) | Chapter 5: Sentencing (PDF 738K) | Chapter 5: Sentencing - Zip format (Spreadsheet 7K) | Chapter 6: Appeals (PDF 742K) | Chapter 6: Appeals - Zip format (Spreadsheet 10K) | Chapter 7: Corrections (PDF 1M) | Chapter 7: Corrections - Zip format (Spreadsheet 15K) | Codebooks and Datasets
Part of the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics Series
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Federal Prosecution of Human Trafficking, 2001-2005
Presents Federal criminal case processing statistics on peonage and slavery statutes in the U.S. criminal code with a focus on human trafficking offenses created by Congress in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. |
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PDF (732K) | ASCII file (8K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 3K) | Codebooks and Datasets
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Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2003
Presents national-level statistics describing characteristics of persons processed and the distribution of case processing outcomes at each major stage of the Federal criminal justice system. |
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Full Report (PDF 2M) | Full Report (ASCII file 185K) | Full Report - Zip format (Spreadsheet 119K) | Chapter 1: Arrests for Federal offenses (PDF 898K) | Chapter 1: Arrests for Federal offenses - Zip format (Spreadsheet 18K) | Chapter 2: Prosecution (PDF 967K) | Chapter 2: Prosecution - Zip format (Spreadsheet 13K) | Chapter 3: Pretrial release (PDF 829K) | Chapter 3: Pretrial release - Zip format (Spreadsheet 26K) | Chapter 4: Adjudication (PDF 956K) | Chapter 4: Adjudication - Zip format (Spreadsheet 12K) | Chapter 5: Sentencing (PDF 757K) | Chapter 5: Sentencing - Zip format (Spreadsheet 14K) | Chapter 6: Appeals (PDF 744K) | Chapter 6: Appeals - Zip format (Spreadsheet 11K) | Chapter 7: Corrections (PDF 1M) | Chapter 7: Corrections - Zip format (Spreadsheet 31K) | Codebooks and Datasets
Part of the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics Series
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Intellectual Property Theft
Presents statistics on both criminal and civil enforcement of Federal intellectual property laws for 1994-2002. |
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PDF (976K) | ASCII file (35K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 12K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version
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Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2002
Presents national-level statistics describing characteristics of persons processed and the distribution of case processing outcomes at each major stage of the Federal criminal justice system. |
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Full Report (PDF 1.5M) | Full Report (ASCII file 185K) | Full Report - Zip format (Spreadsheet 383K) | Chapter 1: Arrests for Federal offenses (PDF 680K) | Chapter 1: Arrests for Federal offenses - Zip format (Spreadsheet 45K) | Chapter 2: Prosecution (PDF 743K) | Chapter 2: Prosecution - Zip format (Spreadsheet 23K) | Chapter 3: Pretrial release (PDF 631K) | Chapter 3: Pretrial release - Zip format (Spreadsheet 45K) | Chapter 4: Adjudication (PDF 743K) | Chapter 4: Adjudication - Zip format (Spreadsheet 37K) | Chapter 5: Sentencing (PDF 560K) | Chapter 5: Sentencing - Zip format (Spreadsheet 29K) | Chapter 6: Appeals (PDF 643K) | Chapter 6: Appeals - Zip format (Spreadsheet 22K) | Chapter 7: Corrections (PDF 822K) | Chapter 7: Corrections - Zip format (Spreadsheet 68K) | Codebooks and Datasets
Part of the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics Series
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