CONTRIBUTE TO THE RECORD
Case Intake
A voluntary, anonymous intake for people and families with direct experience of a federal criminal case — including investigations that never resulted in charges.
Advocacy runs on stories. Legislation runs on data. Case Intake is where we turn direct experience into a record that can move both.
Submissions are anonymous by default. We ask a small set of factual questions — nothing about guilt, and nothing that identifies a specific defendant, prosecutor, judge, or district unless you choose to share it. Aggregate answers feed the Economic Impact Study; individual entries are never published without written consent.
Please do not submit information about a pending case if you are represented by counsel. Talk to your attorney first.
What This Means
Anonymous by default
You control what identifying details, if any, are attached to your entry.
Factual, not adjudicative
We collect procedural facts — length, discovery denials, financial impact — not opinions about the underlying charges.
Feeds the study
Aggregated answers become the safe stat set that underwrites our filings, briefings, and media.
You can opt in later
Even after an anonymous submission, you can later authorize named quotation, an interview, or story development.
What the intake collects
Case facts
- Federal district
- Prosecutor / U.S. Attorney's Office
- Judge (optional)
- Charge(s) or investigative focus
- Timeline (investigation start, indictment, disposition)
- Outcome (plea, trial verdict, dismissal, acquittal, or investigated but never charged)
- Direct financial impact (legal fees, forfeiture, lost income)
- Indirect impact (family, employment, professional license)
Outcome categories
The intake explicitly includes people who were investigated but never charged — a category the Foundation deliberately captures because it is roughly the same size as the charged population and is almost never represented in official statistics.
- Guilty plea
- Conviction at trial
- Acquittal at trial
- Dismissal (any stage)
- Deferred / non-prosecution agreement
- Investigated but never charged
- Pending / ongoing
STAY IN THE LOOP
Start an intake
This short form opens a private conversation with the Foundation. A study coordinator will follow up with the intake questionnaire.