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Notes on figures 19-24: Data compiled by courts nationwide (State, Federal and juvenile courts in the United States; juvenile and adult courts in England) formed the basis for the conviction rate, defined for all offenses except rape as the number of persons convicted during the year per 1,000 population age 10 or older. (Age 10 is the minimum conviction age in England. No U.S. minimum exists, but rarely do juvenile court referrals involve children under age 10 (25,000 out of 1.5 million cases in 1994 according to Loeber and Farrington, 1998, page 24.)) For rape, the conviction rate is the number of convictions per 1,000 male population (ages 10 or older), since rape is almost exclusively a crime committed by males. In the United States, convicted juveniles were defined as adjudicated delinquents, excluding those dismissed or transferred to adult court. (Transferred juveniles who were convicted as adults in adult court were included in State court cases.) Since 1986, national conviction data in the United States have been compiled every 2 years. National conviction data in England are compiled annually. However, for comparability, English convictions are shown for years in which crime victim surveys were conducted. U.S. convictions are shown for all years in which national data exist or were estimated. Convictions for vehicle theft in the United States are conservatively estimated. Crime definitions for the graphics are given in Notes on figures 5-10.
Depending on the circumstances, a person charged in the United States with a serious crime can be prosecuted in a State court, a Federal court, or a juvenile court. Likewise in England (including Wales), depending on the circumstances, the case can go to the Crown Court, a magistrate court, or a juvenile court (a specialized magistrate court).
U.S. Federal courts treat persons 18 years of age and older as adults. In the vast majority of States, a defendant is considered an adult once he or she reaches the age of 18; in a small number of States, age 17 is the beginning of adulthood; in a few States it is age 16. In England, adulthood in the eyes of the law begins at age 18. Before 1992, it was age 17.
In both countries, a juvenile charged with or previously found delinquent of a serious crime can be prosecuted in the adult court rather than the juvenile court. In America, State and Federal laws define special circumstances in which adult prosecution of a juvenile is automatic (for example, a juvenile charged with murder, rape, or armed robbery), and circumstances in which such prosecution is at the discretion of either the juvenile court or the prosecutor. English law requires that all juveniles charged with homicide be prosecuted in the Crown Court (the adult court) rather than the juvenile court (called the youth court in England). If the crime is not a homicide but is one that is punishable by at least 14 years confinement for an adult (for example, household burglary), or the crime is carried out with an adult accomplice, the English juvenile court, at its discretion, can commit the juvenile for trial in the Crown Court. Commitment for trial in the Crown Court is distinguished from commitment for sentencing in the Crown Court. When a juvenile is convicted in the English juvenile court but the magistrate believes the juvenile deserves a longer sentence than the maximum that the juvenile court can impose (12 months), the juvenile can be committed to the Crown Court for sentencing. In such a case the maximum sentence the Crown Court can impose is 2 years.
The total number of convictions (juvenile and adult combined) in the United States is not directly comparable to the English total because the U.S. population is far larger than the English population. Naturally the United States has more convictions: it has roughly five times more people than England. A more meaningful comparison is between conviction rates per 1,000 population, a measure that takes into account the difference in population size.
The U.S. conviction rate per 1,000 population is higher than England's for murder, rape, and robbery. Is that because the United States has higher rates of victimization from murder, rape, and robbery? Or because the criminal justice system in the United States is more likely than the English system to catch and convict murderers, rapists, and robbers?
The English conviction rate per 1,000 population is higher than the U.S. conviction rate for assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. Is that because England has higher rates of victimization from assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft? Or because the criminal justice system in England is more likely than the U.S. system to catch and convict assaulters, burglars, and motor vehicle thieves?
Have conviction rates per 1,000 population been rising or falling in each country?
From 1981 to the latest year of conviction data (1994 in the United States, 1995 in England) --
Chart data - in spreadsheets | ||||||||
Figure 19 | Figure 20 | Figure 21 | ||||||
Murder | Rape | Robbery | ||||||
Year |
United States |
England |
United States |
England |
United States |
England |
||
1981 | 0.0448 | 0.0089 | 0.0994 | 0.0153 | 0.2829 | 0.0951 | ||
1982 | ||||||||
1983 | 0.0407 | 0.0089 | 0.0999 | 0.0148 | 0.2412 | 0.0922 | ||
1984 | ||||||||
1985 | ||||||||
1986 | 0.0520 | 0.1760 | 0.2747 | |||||
1987 | 0.0098 | 0.0200 | 0.1009 | |||||
1988 | 0.0485 | 0.1709 | 0.2337 | |||||
1989 | ||||||||
1990 | 0.0579 | 0.1953 | 0.2984 | |||||
1991 | 0.0101 | 0.0249 | 0.1089 | |||||
1992 | 0.0622 | 0.2321 | 0.3247 | |||||
1993 | 0.0104 | 0.0213 | 0.1140 | |||||
1994 | 0.0589 | 0.2120 | 0.2967 | |||||
1995 | 0.0101 | 0.0249 | 0.1147 | |||||
Figure 22 | Figure 23 | Figure 24 | ||||||
Assault | Burglary | Motor vehicle theft | ||||||
Year |
United States |
England |
United States |
England |
United States |
England |
||
1981 | 0.1626 | 1.1201 | 0.9725 | 1.6916 | 0.0738 | 0.8286 | ||
1982 | ||||||||
1983 | 0.1872 | 1.1334 | 0.9966 | 1.5966 | 0.1071 | 0.6755 | ||
1984 | ||||||||
1985 | ||||||||
1986 | 0.2641 | 0.8256 | 0.1746 | |||||
1987 | 1.0374 | 1.2312 | 0.5897 | |||||
1988 | 0.2544 | 0.7563 | 0.1985 | |||||
1989 | ||||||||
1990 | 0.3663 | 0.8253 | 0.2528 | |||||
1991 | 1.0240 | 1.0370 | 0.5138 | |||||
1992 | 0.4157 | 0.8376 | 0.2450 | |||||
1993 | 0.8371 | 0.9011 | 0.3760 | |||||
1994 | 0.4374 | 0.7300 | 0.2135 | |||||
1995 | 0.6095 | 0.7849 | 0.3432 | |||||
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