Prosecutions for April 2009
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2009 the government reported 17180 new prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 10.6% 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 2009 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (18.8 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 42.1 percent from levels reported in 2004.
The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in prosecutions is 5.2 percent instead of 42.1 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
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 2009 was for "Immigration", accounting for 52.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking" (14.3%), " Withheld by Govt from TRAC (FOIA challen" (6.8%), "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major" (4.9%), "Assimilated Crimes" (2.8%), "Other Criminal Prosecutions" (2.7%), "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions in April 2009 was DHS accounting for 59 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: DEA (10% ), FBI (9%), ATF (6%), Defense (3%). See Figure 3.
Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2009, 50 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 50.8 percent of all magistrate filings in April.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (17.7%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A" (5.2%).
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 2009.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,016 1 1 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 1,191 2 2 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 707 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 621 4 4 4 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 389 5 5 5 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 181 6 9 8 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 143 7 10 22 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 124 8 11 9 More 18 USC 2252 - Material involving sexual exploitation of minors 119 9 8 14 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 116 10 7 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 1 a year ago, while it was the 2 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 2 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 3 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 62.9 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 that involves " Importation of controlled substances ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—219 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 10.4 percent—was Bringing in and harboring certain aliens (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 27.2 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2009 the Justice Department said the government brought 3434.3 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 23,539 381 1 5 5 More Cal, S 21,944 568 2 3 4 More Texas, W 18,004 861 3 1 1 More Texas, S 13,691 907 4 2 2 More N Dakota 8,659 46 5 75 82 More Arizona 8,641 444 6 4 3 More Ga, S 6,727 79 7 48 72 More D. C. 5,534 27 8 61 37 More S Dakota 5,327 35 9 55 43 More Montana 5,323 42 10 45 49 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of New Mexico—with 23539 prosecutions as compared with 3434.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during April 2009. The District of New Mexico was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 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 Montana , now ranked 10th , and Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 45th and 48th one year ago and 49th and 72nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago— 35 percent—was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 97.5 percent—was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of prosecutions— 11.3 percent—was Montana . But over the past five years, Washington, D.C. (Washington) showed the largest drop— 46 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 2009 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 169 1 3 - More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 162 2 6 2 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 152 3 1 3 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 122 4 8 6 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 116 5 9 4 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 114 6 11 16 More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 101 7 12 18 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 101 7 2 8 More Briones, David Texas, W 89 9 7 7 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 89 9 4 5 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 Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 169 defendants in cases. Judge Alvarezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 3).
Judge George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 162 defendants in cases. Judge Kazen appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 6) and five years ago (rank 2).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 152 defendants in cases. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 3).
