This report presents data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Federal justice database on the processing of drug cases in the Federal criminal justice system for calendar years 1985-1992, with more detail provided about Federal drug offenders than in other BJS publications.
The database is constructed from source files provided by the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and other Federal agencies. The data describe initial prosecution decisions, referrals to magistrates, court dispositions, sentencing outcomes, incarceration sentence lengths imposed, and length of time served in prison. Tables present the number of defendants and the percentage of suspects, defendants, or offenders at each stage of the criminal justice process. Data are also provided on the number of drug cases handled in U.S. district courts and on the number of drug offenders sentenced to incarceration by drug type. Offense categories