http://www.rainn.org/statistics.html
How can someone be convicted of a rape/sexual assualt and not spend time in jail?
The only thing I can think of is a plea bargain…
Most of the time they are dismissed becuase the statute of limitations is up or there is not enough evidence.
Would that count under “prosecuted but not convicted”, though? The OP is asking about the “convicted but not incarcerated” stat.
Some would say that the meaning of rape has changed from a horriable crime where a woman is jumped by a stranger from behind and forced to have intercorse to an all inclusive definition that even includes having regrets after having sex.
But that, kanicbird is another kettle of fish altogether. The LAW has for decades (hell, around here for at least a century) NOT limited it to “when a woman is jumped by a stranger from behind” but at the same time the Law does NOT include “having regrets after having sex” within the range of what is prosecutable as “rape”. You may have a point in there somewhere (but you have made it in a manner that will earn you much abuse) to which I’ll get back later.
Back to the OP. The question is based on:
Right?
Well, Notice This, Epileptik:
It says “if there is a felony conviction”
NOT “if there is a Rape/1st. Degree Sexual Assault/Aggravated Sexual Battery/Whatever-your-penal-code-calls-it conviction”
These people may NOT be getting prosecuted for RAPE. By the time it gets to trial they may be getting prosecuted for lewd conduct, non-sexual assault-and-battery, indecent exposure, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, etc. because either a case could not be made for what are still very specific circumstances that the Law classifies as Rape/1DSA/ASB/whatever, or there was a plea-bargain.
As to whether THAT is fair, well, that would go to the issue kanicbird raised quite tactlessly: we’d have to read throught the literature and the court records to see whether this really means “16.3% of convicted rapists will end in prison” or “16.3% of convicted sexual offenders of any kind will end in prison” .
…and I see from RAINN’s own site that their definition of “Sexual Assault” (as distinct from ‘Rape’) includes a wide range of behaviors and could even extend to “verbal threats” .
(Which IMO could result in inclusion of situations that would be recorded as incidents of sexual harassment in work/school and be handled, if at all, by administrative or civil means and not in the criminal justice system)
If you look at where they got that statistic- http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/fdluc94xm.txt - the way I’m kind of reading it is that 69% conviceted of felony rape are sentenced to prison.
Then if you look here - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/fdluc94.txt
another 12% went to jail, and 19% probation. So even if only 69% went to federal prison, that doesn’t mean that the other 31% went skipping merrily down the bunny trail.
They have looked at who goes to “prison” and forgotten that a state jail is not the same as a federal prison.
I should also add that you do have to scroll down to the tables on sentencing. Table 30 in the second link.
I would think that the difference is between a county jail and a state prison. I doubt there are many rapes prosecuted under federal law.
Sorry ascenray I’m sure you’re right. I only know what I half pay attention to on Oz. Either way, jail and prison are both called different things, but they are both places to lock up rapists and Raiin has them mixed up too.
pokey, you’re right. It does seem the felony-conviciton figure IS for what is legaly designated as “rape”, but, as you point out, they neglect to add the other 12% that are confined to county jail as opposed to state pen. So it’s 81% of the convicted who do time.
Now, emotionally we may be shocked at the possibility it not be 100%, but heck, in those stats only murder makes it to 100%. And RAINN works further on that emotional angle by turning it into the “only 1 in 16” figure by adding the never-reported to the score. Rapists DO get the second-longest mean and median sentences, after murderers, so those who do get time, seem to get more.
As to the remaining 19% that are given some form of probation, we may include then the possibilities of plea-bargains wherein the person is to be placed instead on a treatment program; AND, and IMO this may be very important, prison/jail-overcrowding conditions that either preclude or limit to insignificance the incarceration of offenders not in the “mandatory” categories (thank the War On Drugs for that one). So instead the rapist is placed on electronic surveillance, work-release, behavioral treatment, modified house arrest, ‘chemical castration’, etc.
The DOJ report explicitly EXCLUDES cases of “statutory rape” where the parties were fully consenting, which would be a likely source for “not doing time”.
In any case, if your conviction IS of Rape, in all states now you WILL get placed in the sex-offenders register, and say goodbye to “normal” living even after serving the time.
Another flaw in the OP’s statistics is the assumption that every rapist commits only one rape. It’s possible or probable that a person might commit one rape, walk free, and then commit another and end up behind bars. So it’s wrong to say that only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.
There seems to be an assumption here (and in the OP) that punishments less than jail can only occurr from a plea-bargain. That’s not correct. Modern sentencing statutes give judges a lot of options other than jail, although their discretion to use those options may in turn by restricted by certain statutory criteria.
Assuming that treatment options are available as a sentence for a particular case, that may be the sentence that the judge gives. At the sentencing hearing, defence can argue that on the facts of the case some disposition other than jail may be appropriate, such as treatment programs. If the prosecution opposes that submission and asks for jail time, the judge has to decide which sentence to give. If the judge accepts defence submissions, then the sentence may be a form of treatment.
So, bottom line, don’t assume that a sentencing outcome you don’t like must be the result of a plea bargain.
Another serious problem with this analysis is it does not take into account mistaken arrest or prosecution. In other words, if only 80% of the people arrested are prosecuted, could it be because a good chunk of the remaining 20% are innocent. Same for the prosecuted but not convicted.
Further, if one arrestee is released, that doesn’t mean that the police will stop, but they may later (or simultaneously) arrest someone they prosecute and convict.
Further, the initial statement is for all rapes or sexual assualts. All states have graduated levels of sexual offenses, so all sexual assaults may not even be felonies. If you add the misdemeanor sexual assault prosecutions, convictions, and sentencings in there, the numbers go up significantly.