Common Exceptions: The Under-Prosecution of Sexual Violence Cases in the U.S.

• In Event: Gender, Politics, & Institutional Features in the U.S. & Comparative Contexts

Abstract

Academics and activists have long decried the state’s poor legal treatment of sexual violence cases. However, academic literature has struggled to attribute this poor legal treatment to the decisions of state actors, rather than factors outside the state’s control. I present evidence that democratically elected U.S. chief prosecutors dismiss sexual violence cases at a high rate relative to commensurate violent crimes. Specifically, these prosecutors preclude sexual violence prosecutions by making liberal use of what is intended to be a relatively uncommon law enforcement practice: clearance by exceptional means. I find evidence that these cases are being dismissed for reasons other than victim-initiated attrition and insufficient evidence for prosecution. Using data from an original online survey of U.S. respondents, I also find evidence that this low prosecution of sexual violence cases runs counter to public preferences; even in the face of resource constraints, U.S. respondents would prefer high prosecution rates of sexual violence cases, relative to other violent crimes. In the final portion of my paper, I leverage administrative law enforcement data, elections data, and elite interviews to understand what drives this prosecutor behavior.

Author

• Madison Dalton, Stanford University