American Indians and Alaska Natives in the Federal Criminal Justice System, 2023

• In Event: Special Topics Using Data from the Federal Justice Statistics Program

Abstract

This presentation highlights a new report published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that uses data from the Federal Justice Statistics Program to describe American Indians or Alaska Native (AIAN) persons processed at each stage of the federal justice system. This includes the stages of arrest, prosecution, pretrial detention and release, sentencing, incarceration, and community supervision. The unique federal jurisdiction over crimes in Indian country is discussed including its impact on the types of offenses and geographic distribution of federal cases involving AIAN persons. The report uses arrest and incarceration rates (per 100,000 AIAN persons) to facilitate a measure of trends that adjusts for time and geographic variation in the number of AIAN persons in the U.S. population. Gaps in the measurement of federal criminal justice statistics in Indian country are discussed.

Authors

• Mark Motivans, Bureau of Justice Statistics

• Ryan Kling, Bureau of Justice Statistics