Research
The Commission collects, analyzes, and disseminates a broad array of information on federal crime and sentencing practices. The Office of Research and Data collects data from documents submitted by the courts in each case in which a defendant is sentenced. From that data, the Commission prepares and disseminates public reports on a wide variety of sentencing issues. The Commission also uses this data in its consulting capacity to the courts, Congress, and the Executive Branch.


Explore our research and data reports below or download our datafiles and perform your own analysis.
Public Access to Commission Data and Documents

Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics
Latest Sourcebook
Interactive SourceBook
Quick Facts
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  • Health Care Fraud
    (January 2018) In fiscal year 2016, there were 517 health care fraud offenders, who accounted for 0.8% of all offenders sentenced under the guidelines. The number of health care fraud offenders decreased by 6.5% from fiscal years 2013 to 2016.

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  • Credit Card Fraud
    (January 2018) In fiscal year 2016, there were 568 credit card fraud offenders, who accounted for 0.9% of all offenders sentenced under the guidelines. The number of credit card fraud offenders decreased by 8.5% from fiscal years 2013 to 2016.

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Research Reports
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  • Recidivism Among Federal Offenders Receiving Retroactive Sentence Reductions: The 2011 Fair Sentencing Act Guideline Amendment

    (March 2018) This publication analyzes recidivism among crack cocaine offenders who were released early after implementation of a 2011 guidelines amendment which incorporated the reduced statutory penalty structure for crack cocaine offenses effective November 1, 2010. In a three-year follow-up period, these offenders were compared with similarly situated offenders who were released before the effective date of that amendment after serving their full prison terms less good time and other earned credits.

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  • Mandatory Minimum Penalties for Firearms Offenses in the Federal System

    (March 2018) Using fiscal year 2016 data, this publication includes analysis similar to that in the 2017 Overview Publication, providing sentencing data on offenses carrying gun mandatory minimums, the impact on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) population, and differences observed when analyzing Section 924(c) and Armed Career Criminal Act offenses.

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  • The Effects of Aging on Recidivism Among Federal Offenders

    (December 2017) This report examines the impact of the aging process on federal offender recidivism and, once age is accounted for, the impact of other offense and offender characteristics.  The findings in this report build on those in the Commission's Recidivism Overview report. 

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Data Reports
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  • Federal Sentencing Statistics by District, Circuit & State

    (April 2018) These reports compare annual federal sentencing statistics from each judicial district, the districts within each judicial circuit, and the districts within each state to the nation as a whole.

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  • Prison & Sentencing Impact Assessments

    (March 2018) When possible, the Commission performs prison and sentencing impact assessments as part of its consideration of amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines. The Commission also is often asked to perform prison and sentencing impact assessments for Congress.

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  • Retroactivity Analyses and Data Reports

    (February 2018) These reports present data on retroactive application of guideline amendments, including the 2014 Drug Amendment, 2010 Fair Sentencing Act Amendment, and 2007 Crack Cocaine Amendment.

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  • Quarterly Sentencing Updates

    (March 2018) The preliminary data in these reports present selected quarterly sentencing information submitted to the Commission by the U.S. Courts.

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  • Guideline Application Frequencies

    (July 2017) These annual reports provide data on the frequency of application of specific guidelines, including increases for aggravating factors and decreases for mitigating factors.

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  • Overview of Federal Criminal Cases, Fiscal Year 2016

    (May 2017) This publication presents a broad overview of federal sentencing data for fiscal year 2016. It provides a brief, easy-to-use reference on the types of criminal cases handled by federal courts and the punishments imposed on offenders convicted in those cases. 

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Commission Datafiles
 
Individual Offenders

The Commission's individual datafiles provide information on the sentences imposed in cases involving individuals. In these datafiles the individual is the unit of analysis. These datafiles do not contain information from the Commission's Organizational, Resentencing, or Appeals Databases.

Corporate Offenders

The Commission's organizational datafiles provide information on the sentences imposed in cases involving organizational offenders (i.e., corporations, partnerships, and other entities having a legal existence separate from the individuals having an interest in them).

Special Projects

Commission datafiles that are used in various reports to Congress. These datafiles may contain information collected during a special coding project performed for a particular report and, therefore, will not be available in the Commission's fiscal year datafiles.

 

Reports to Congress
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