NCJ Number
228125
Date Published
March 2003
Length
106 pages
Annotation
This paper explores the trends in the criminal case processing of juveniles (under age 18) in the Federal Criminal Justice System from 1994 to 2001.
Abstract
Highlights of findings include: (1) Federal arrests of persons who were 18 years of age and under comprised less than 2 percent of all Federal arrests; between 1994 and 2001, the number of such arrests increased by 73 percent from 1,424 to 2,462; (2) arrests of young persons for drug and immigration offenses increased throughout the reporting period and were the predominant offense categories of arrest; (3) the majority of persons 18 years of age and under who were arrested federally were male, comprising 83.5 percent; (4) the share of Federal arrests comprised by females increased from 12.4 percent in 1994 to 16.5 percent in 2001; (5) the number of persons 18 and under at the time of sentencing and sentenced in Federal court increased by about 50 percent from 251 to 371; (6) drug offenses comprised the largest number of young defendants sentenced during this period; (7) among those sentenced, the number of Whites increased two-and-one-half times from 111 to 247, while the number of African-Americans decreased from 110 to 72; (8) between 1994 and 2001, the number of persons 18 and under who received prison sentences increased from 176 to 288; (9) the percentage of convicted defendants under the Federal sentencing guidelines who received some prison ranged from a low of 64 percent (1997) to over 80 percent; and (10) the majority of juveniles committed into the Federal Bureau of Prisons were male (more than 90 percent), non-Hispanic (over 80 percent), United States citizens (more than 90 percent), and Native Americans (between 44 and 60 percent). The paper examines trends in Federal arrests of young persons who were 18 and under at the time of their arrest from 1994 to 2001, the sentences of young persons, and the trends in the custody of these young persons. Tables and figures