BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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Domestic violence cases
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Examines the processing of domestic violence (DV) and non-domestic violence (non-DV) cases filed in May 2002 in 15 large urban counties. The study compares the domestic and non-domestic offenses of sexual and aggravated assault on 11 prosecution, conviction, and sentencing outcome measures. Data are also presented regarding court issued protection orders, guilty plea versus trial convictions, and the demographic characteristics of domestic violence defendants.

Highlights include the following:

  • A third of violent felony defendants were charged with domestic violence.
  • Prosecuted domestic sexual assault defendants had a higher overall conviction rate (98%) than prosecuted non-domestic sexual assault defendants (87%).
  • Domestic aggravated assault defendants (54%) were less likely to be granted pretrial release than non-domestic aggravated assault defendants (62%).

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Publications & Products


Census of Problem-Solving Courts, 2012 Describes type, location, and characteristics of all known problem-solving courts active in 2012.
  Summary (PDF 217K) | Full report (PDF 1.1M) | ASCII file (37K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 37K)

State Court Processing of Domestic Violence Cases "Domestic violence defendants more likely to be convicted than non-domestic violence defendants"
  Press Release | More information about this release

Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on Strangers and Acquaintances Compares family and nonfamily violence statistics from victimization through the different stages of the justice system.
  Press Release | Full Report (PDF 1M) | Full Report (ASCII file 34K) | Full Report - Zip format (Spreadsheet 136K) | Reported and unreported family violence (PDF 739K) | Reported and unreported family violence - Zip format (Spreadsheet 15K) | Reported and unreported family violence - Source data (HTML) | Fatal family violence (PDF 718K) | Fatal family violence - Zip format (Spreadsheet 9K) | Fatal family violence - Source data (HTML) | Family violence reported to police (PDF 727K) | Family violence reported to police - Zip format (Spreadsheet 12K) | Family violence reported to police - Source data (HTML) | Family violence recorded by police (PDF 779K) | Family violence recorded by police - Zip format (Spreadsheet 22K) | Family violence recorded by police - Source data (HTML) | State prosecution of family assault (PDF 726K) | State prosecution of family assault - Zip format (Spreadsheet 42K) | State prosecution of family assault - Source data (HTML) | Federal prosecution of domestic violence (PDF 704K) | Federal prosecution of domestic violence - Zip format (Spreadsheet 5K) | Federal prosecution of domestic violence - Source data (HTML) | Family violence offenders in prison (PDF 735K) | Family violence offenders in prison - Zip format (Spreadsheet 14K) | Family violence offenders in prison - Source data (HTML) | Family violence offenders in jail (PDF 734K) | Family violence offenders in jail - Zip format (Spreadsheet 34K) | Family violence offenders in jail - Source data (HTML) | Methodology and Appendix (PDF 691K) | Methodology and Appendix - Zip format (Spreadsheet 8K) | Codebooks and Datasets

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Terms & Definitions

Domestic violence Refers to violence between spouses, or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non-married intimate partners.
 
Domestic violence courts Address criminal cases that involve offenses against persons who are related in some way, most often through intimate partnership or family relationship. They include integrated domestic violence courts, which handle both domestic violence and family issues (e.g., custody and visitation).
 
NCIC Protection Order File Contains court orders that are issued to help law enforcement prevent acts of domestic violence against a person or to prevent a person from stalking, intimidating, or harassing another person. Orders are issued by both civil and criminal state courts.
 
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