Emory Law School Website
Data and Statistics Sources
Legal Statistics Broken Down By Topic
Other, Broader Resources
More Places to Get Ideas
Guide created by Felicity Walsh - please email questions, additions, etc.
Legal Statistics Broken Down By Topic
Bankruptcy Statistics:
Judicial Facts and Figures: Judicial Facts and Figures is a set of tables containing historical caseload data primarily for the fiscal years from 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2002 through 2006. The tables include data on the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts. All tables are in PDF. Does not offer an analysis of the federal caseload changes, although significant fluctuations in the data and corresponding explanations are noted on the tables.
Statistics from the U.S. Courts: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts compiles statistics on bankruptcy filings for each quarter ending December, March, June and September. The fiscal year for the federal Judiciary ends September 30. The calendar year ends December 31. Quarterly and 12-month statistics are available approximately 2 months after the close of a quarter.
Statistical Tables for the Federal Judiciary - Described under "Caseload" below; also contains statistics on bankruptcy courts.
U.S. Trustee Program: Charts by state and statistical reports on chapter 7 bankruptcy filings.
Caseload of the Courts (look here for filings, terminations and pending cases and appeals broken down by subject and time period):
Federal Court Management Statistics: Provides statistical profiles for each of the 12 U.S. courts of appeals and 94 U.S. district courts–plus national totals for the appellate and district courts–for the fiscal year ending September 30. Presents data based on the number of authorized judgeships and provides rankings among the appellate courts and among the district courts. Compares current fiscal year data to data for previous five fiscal years. Publications dating back to 1997 available on line.
Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics: Statistical tables on the caseload of the federal Judiciary for the 12-month period ending March 31 which address the work of the U.S. courts of appeals, district courts and bankruptcy courts, as well as the federal probation and pretrial services system. Contains charts and summary text discussing reasons for increases and decreases in the courts' caseload.
Judicial Business of the United States Courts: Detailed statistical tables published on the work of the federal Judiciary (tables include cases and appeals filed, terminated and pending broken out by topic and time period), plus charts and text explaining why increases or decreases occurred in the courts’ caseload. Provides data for the fiscal year ending September 30 for the U.S. courts of appeals, district courts and bankruptcy courts; the probation and pretrial services system; and other components of the federal Judiciary. Publications dating back to 1997 available online.
LexisNexis Jury Verdicts, Settlements & Judgments: (LexisNexis password required) Verdicts and settlements as well as medical litigation and jury verdict analysis including analysis of personal injury awards searchable by state.
Statistical Tables for the Federal Judiciary: Prepared twice each year, with one volume reporting data for the 12-month period ending June 30, and the other volume reporting data for the calendar year ending December 31. Detailed statistical tables address the work of the U.S. courts of appeals, district courts and bankruptcy courts, as well as the federal probation and pretrial services system. Judicial Caseload Indicators table compares data for the current 12-month period to that for the same period 1, 5, and 10 years earlier. Publications dating back to 2001 available on line.
Crime Statistics:
Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center: a project of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this site offers statistics, reports, data and online analysis of U.S. crime statistics.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data: provides criminological and criminal justice data collections on specific topics. Data can be downloaded or analyzed into tables of different types (you will need to register [registration is free]). Each entry includes a description including study methodology.
Uniform Crime Reports: The FBI makes available statistics and reports from its Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The reports include Crime in the United States, which is compiled from data provided by nearly 17,000 law enforcement agencies.
Social Science Statistics:
Social Statistics Briefing Room: From the White House, includes data on crime, demography, education and health.
State Statistics:
National Center for State Courts: The Court Statistics Project offers some state court statistics reports, with full data available from ICPSR (ICPSR available from Databases @ Emory). Here you can find analysis and statistical information about caseload of the courts by topic (juvenile, traffic, civil, appellate, etc.) as well as interactive statistical chart generator and a section on caseload highlights which "targets specific and significant issues and disseminates the findings in short reports."
Surveillance & Wiretap:
Wiretap Reports: Uses tables, text, and charts to report information provided by federal and state officials on orders authorizing or approving interceptions of wire, oral, or electronic communications for the calendar year ending December 31. Presents data on types of offenses under investigation, nature and locations of intercept devices, costs and durations of intercepts, and intercept extensions granted. Does not include names, addresses, or phone numbers of subjects under surveillance. Publications dating back to 1997 available online.
Tax Statistics:
Tax Statistics: The IRS provides statistics for businesses, individuals, on the IRS's activities, charitable and exempt organizations and by form or publication. Data tends to lag 2 or more years behind the current year.
Voting and Elections:
Campaign Finance Reports and Data: From the Federal Election Commission, search and download candidate, PAC, party summaries, as well as financial disclosure reports filed electronically or in paper by same.
Election Resources: From the Election Assistance Commission, includes voter registration and turnout statistics, election day survey results (2004), historical demographic statistics as well as voting systems standards and guidelines.
Election Results: View the electoral votes, popular votes, electors, and certificates of past presidential elections.
Historical Election Statistics: From the Clerk of the Court of the House of Representatives, official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories from 1920 to present.
LexisNexis Statistical: (Databases@Emory) Online source of statistical information issued by U.S. Federal & State governments, selected private publications, and major international intergovernmental organizations. Includes data from American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index, & Index to International Statistics.
(State elections) Elections, Campaigns & Redistricting: NCSL (National Conference on State Legistlatures) tracks election and campaign issues in six major categories: redistricting, election laws and procedures, election results and analysis, term limits, initiative and referendum, and campaign finance. NCSL provides comprehensive 50-state research and analysis on a wide variety of election and campaign issues.
U.S. Congress Votes Database: From the Washington Post. Search votes back to the 102nd Congress, search votes by type (impeachments, treaties, etc.) and set up an RSS feed to stay current.
Voting and Registration: From the U.S. Census Bureau, information on reported voting and registration by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Voting Technology Project: A joint project of MIT and CalTech established "in December 2000 to prevent a recurrence of the problems that threatened the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election." Offers sections on "Election Management" and "Election Fraud."
Other, Broader Resources
Census, Population and Demographic Data:
American FactFinder: Browse, search, and map data from the 1990 & 2000 Decennial Census, 2000-2003 American Community Survey, Annual Population Estimates, 1997 & 2002 Economic Censuses, and Annual Economic Surveys.
FedStats: From the Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, FedStats provides a range of official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without the user having to know in advance which Federal agency produces which particular statistic. Statistics by topic, state and agency with links to publications.State and County QuickFacts: Just like the name implies, fast access to basic data broken down by state. More accurate for the big picture and data on more urban states as it includes incorporated places with 25,000 or more inhabitants.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web. Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations.
Child Welfare Data (please see also Census and Health headings in this section):
Child Trends DataBank: "One-stop-shop for the latest national trends and research on over 100 key indicators of child and youth well-being, with new indicators added each month." The DataBank is the product of Child Trends a "nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and families by providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects children."
Child Welfare by State: Most states will have statics on child welfare, abuse, adoption, etc., which will be listed under the state. To find these, you can either try a web search for "Child welfare statistics" and "Arkansas" or you can usually find the state's website by typing in "http://www.XX.gov/" where XX is the postal abbreviation for the state (ca=California, fl=Florida, etc.)
Child Welfare Information Gateway Statistics: (From the U.S. Childern's Bureau) Reports, databases, and other sources of statistics and demographic data on children and families in the United States, child abuse and neglect, child welfare services, children and youth in foster care, and domestic and international adoption.
Child Welfare Library's list of Federal and State Resources: Some lists of resources on child welfare, the state resources include links to Kids Count State Profiles in pdf format.
ChildStats.gov: This website offers easy access to statistics and reports on children and families, including: population and family characteristics, economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education. Somewhat frustratingly, data is available mainly via a "search" box, rather than a site index.
Children's Bureau Statistics and Research: On this page you will find links to Administration for Children and Families (ACF) statistics, data, research, and publications, including the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). You will also find links to publications such as research on services for children and families, financial reports, clearinghouse databases, fact sheets, testimony, specific program reports, reports to Congress; and GPRA reports, including the ACF Annual Performance Plan and Report. Topics covered include adoption, abuse, Head Start, refugees and welfare caseload.
Children's Defense Fund Data: Numerous CDF publications which contain statistics on health, income, schooling and more.
National Center for Children in Poverty: A series of reports from the National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, New York.
National Data Analysis System: From the Child Welfare League of America.
National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology: Some interesting links, but mostly useful for their searchable database which can be searched by topic, type or keyword and allows access to very specific topics (abuse/neglect in Alaskan Tribes, etc.).
School District Demographics System: A website from the National Center for Educational Statistics which provides access to school district geographic and demographic data useful for describing and analyzing characteristics of school districts, children, and K-12 education.
Statistics from WIC (Women, Infants and Children): Links to selected statistical information on activity in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Four types of tables are provided: a historical summary, annual state level data for selected elements, monthly national level data, and the latest available month for state-level participation.
Economic Statistics:
Bureau of Economic Analysis: Economic data, estimates, and fact sheets from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. This site divides U.S. economic information into 4 major areas: national, international, regional and industry.
Stat-USA (Databases@Emory): Contains two major resources: STATE OF THE NATION concerns itself with the United States' domestic economy (housing starts and sales, GDP, CPI, employment and unemployment data, retail and industrial information, interest and exchange rates, and treasury statements), while GLOBUS (Global Business Opportunities) and NTDB (National Trade Data Bank) deal with international trade and market information from sources such as the UN and the US Dept. of Agriculture.
Great For Many Topics:
SourceOECD (Databases@Emory): Provides full-text access to publications of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Go to the statistics tab to search lots of useful statistics in many areas.
LexisNexis Statistical (Databases@Emory): Keyword searching of tables and abstracts of statistics from federal agencies, states, IGOs, professional and trade organizations, commercial publishers, research organizations. Search interface for both tables and abstracts includes ability to limit by geographic, demographic, and economic categories. There is also a list of links to other helpful sites.
Health Statistics:
FastStats A to Z (National Center for Health Statistics): Summaries of statistics on topics like Alzheimer's, asthma, multiple births, hospice care., immunization, in patient surgery, suicide as well as entries for all 50 states and U.S. territories. Entries are arranged alphabetically by topic and each entry includes sources for it's overview as well as links for further research.
Statistics (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services): Statistics from the CDC, NIH, AHRQ and more covering statistics on a wide array of topics such as aging, adoption, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer, assistance to needy families, refugees and Head Start programs.
Historical Statistics for the U.S.:
Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970: From the Census Bureau, statistical abstract data present here ranges from our most recent edition to the historical abstracts compiled throughout the decades. Some very large .pdf files.
More Places to Get Ideas
Harvard Law School has a really great list of resources by topic.
Databases at Emory has a whole list of statistical sources.
FindLaw has a selection of resources on legal statistics.
Virtual Chase has some interesting links. Not all are especially useful, but there are some links here to less common topics (aging, campus crime, cancer facts, etc.)