Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted in 2022
In 2022, only 290 of 71,954 defendants in federal criminal cases – about 0.4% – went to trial and were acquitted.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
In 2022, only 290 of 71,954 defendants in federal criminal cases – about 0.4% – went to trial and were acquitted.
The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century.
The public is more likely to have heard “a lot” about ongoing confrontations between police and protesters than several other stories.
The first full fiscal year of the Trump administration saw large increases in the number of people arrested and criminally prosecuted for immigration offenses.
Trials are rare in the federal criminal justice system: Just 2% of criminal defendants went to trial in fiscal 2018. Acquittals are even rarer.
Federal law enforcement agencies are making more arrests for immigration-related offenses and fewer arrests for other types of offenses – including drug, property and gun crimes – than they were a decade ago.
Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 77,152 defendants in fiscal year 2016. That’s a decline of 25% since fiscal 2011.
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