Prosecutions for April 2008
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2008 the government reported 15984 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 10% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 1)
When monthly 2008 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (31.2 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 40.6 percent from levels reported in 2003.
The increase from the levels five years ago in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in April 2008 was for "Immigration", accounting for 58.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (12.9%), " Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (5.2%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (3.3%), "Assimilated Crimes" (3%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in April 2008 was DHS accounting for 64 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: DEA (8% ), FBI (7%), ATF (6%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2008, 57 percent of cases for these matters took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in April the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving the "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 57 percent of all magistrate filings in April.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (14%).
Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of matters filed in U.S. District Court during April 2008.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,523 1 2 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 1,075 2 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 618 3 3 2 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 594 4 4 4 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 429 5 5 5 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 227 6 12 6 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 141 7 14 14 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 116 8 7 10 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 111 9 8 8 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 110 10 6 7 More
Table 2: Top charges filed
"Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was the 3 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was the 1 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was the 2 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 64.4 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 that involves " Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—57.9 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 27.3 percent—was Importation of controlled substances (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 46.5 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2008 the Justice Department said the government brought 2778.4 prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago N Mexico 17,067 278 1 6 6 More Cal, S 16,094 416 2 4 4 More Texas, W 14,546 696 3 1 1 More Texas, S 12,729 849 4 2 2 More S Dakota 7,520 49 5 44 51 More Montana 6,606 52 6 52 48 More Arizona 5,935 305 7 3 3 More Alaska 5,552 31 8 85 75 More N Dakota 5,095 27 9 74 84 More D. C. 4,540 22 10 82 40 More La, M 4,540 29 10 80 72 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico—with 17067 prosecutions as compared with 2778.4 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during April 2008. The District of New Mexico was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Dakota , now ranked 5th , and Montana at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 44th and 52nd one year ago and 51st and 48th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 45.7 percent—was Washington, D.C. (Washington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 23.8 percent—was North Dakota .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 26.2 percent—was Arizona . But over the past five years, Washington, D.C. (Washington) showed the largest drop— 53.1 percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new crime cases of this type during April 2008 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 118 1 3 418 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 114 2 1 - More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 107 3 2 5 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 104 4 9 53 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 93 5 8 8 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 92 6 6 807 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 91 7 4 823 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 89 8 10 7 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 83 9 5 1 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 82 10 11 11 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of filings per capita.
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 1st with 118 defendants in cases. Judge Brackalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 3).
Judge Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 114 defendants in cases. Judge Alvarezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 1).
Judge George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 107 defendants in cases. Judge Kazen appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 5).
