18 U.S.C. 242, Deprivation of rights under color of law: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Federal trials under 18 U.S.C. 242 ended in an acquittal 41% of the time in fiscal years 2016 to 2025: 44 of 108 trials. Most of the 450 defendants did not go to trial. 300 (67%) pleaded guilty, and 364 (81%) were convicted in all.
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In brief: Federal trials under 18 U.S.C. 242 ended in an acquittal 41% of the time in fiscal years 2016 to 2025: 44 of 108 trials. Most of the 450 defendants did not go to trial. 300 (67%) pleaded guilty, and 364 (81%) were convicted in all.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 450 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Acquittals at Trial
The U.S. Code heads section 242 of Title 18 "Deprivation of rights under color of law." That heading is the only description of the section used in this post.
Of the 450 defendants counted, 108 (24%) had a trial. Juries heard 100 of those trials and acquitted in 40 (40%). Judges decided the other 8 without a jury and acquitted in 4 of the 8.
An acquittal rate measures trials only. It does not count guilty pleas or dismissed cases, which make up most of the 450.
Pleas and Dismissals
A guilty plea was the most common way these cases ended: 300 defendants, or 67%. Another 42 (9%) had their charges dismissed.
In the Federal Judicial Center records, a dismissal includes any case in which the charges were dismissed. Some were dismissed on the government's motion, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in a separate case.
The records count a defendant under section 242 when it was the most serious charge remaining at the end of the case.
Felonies, Misdemeanors, and Prison Terms
Most defendants faced this section as a felony: 391 (87%). The other 59 (13%) faced it as a Class A misdemeanor. None of the cases were petty offenses.
Of the 364 people convicted, 284 (78%) received a prison term on this charge. The median term, counting only terms of 1 month or more, was 30 months (2.5 years). 3 defendants received life.
Did the Yearly Numbers Change?
The number of cases that ended each year ranged from 26 in 2021 to 69 in 2024. Guilty plea rates moved between 55% in 2018 and 84% in 2017.
Trial counts were small in every year, with 15 at most. Acquittal rates by year ranged from 20% in 2024 to 53% in 2023. A single year's rate rests on few trials, so the yearly figures do not show a trend. Federal fiscal years run from October through September.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 39 | 64% | 5% | 12 | 6 (50%) |
| 2017 | 31 | 84% | 3% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2018 | 42 | 55% | 10% | 15 | 5 (33%) |
| 2019 | 28 | 71% | 7% | 6 | 4 (4 of 6) |
| 2020 | 45 | 71% | 11% | 8 | 4 (4 of 8) |
| 2021 | 26 | 69% | 0% | 8 | 4 (4 of 8) |
| 2022 | 58 | 60% | 14% | 15 | 6 (40%) |
| 2023 | 52 | 65% | 6% | 15 | 8 (53%) |
| 2024 | 69 | 77% | 9% | 10 | 2 (20%) |
| 2025 | 60 | 57% | 18% | 15 | 4 (27%) |
Defendants by Type of Counsel
Private (retained) counsel handled 289 cases (64%). CJA panel attorneys handled 85 (19%), and federal public or community defenders handled 71 (16%).
Retained counsel took 72 cases to trial, and 34 ended in an acquittal (47%). CJA panel attorneys had 23 trials and 5 acquittals (22%). Federal defenders had 13 trials and 5 acquittals (38%). Guilty plea rates were about the same across the 3 groups, from 65% to 72%.
Counsel type is the type recorded when the case ended. People who retain a lawyer and people who are appointed one face different charges and circumstances. For that reason, any gap between the groups describes the cases, not the quality of the lawyers.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 71 | 72% | 10% | 13 | 5 (38%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 85 | 65% | 8% | 23 | 5 (22%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 289 | 67% | 8% | 72 | 34 (47%) |
What the Counts Leave Out
These figures do not describe the conduct in any case or explain why a case went to trial. They also do not show sentences on other charges in the same case.
No court-martial offense is a close counterpart to this section in the approved crosswalk. The post therefore reports federal numbers only.
How We Counted
Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 18 U.S.C. 242, any subsection (450), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers. The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- 18 U.S.C. 231, Civil disorders: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2017–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 241, Conspiracy against rights: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 249, Hate crime acts: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 286, Conspiracy to defraud the Government with respect to claims: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.