Editing Failure to appear (section)

=== Questions about FTA prevalence ===
Whether FTA rates are prevalent enough to warrant criminal sanctions has become a point of contention. FTAs are most common for lower-level, non-violent crimes: primarily in traffic court. Not all individuals who receive a traffic ticket or summons for a minor infraction realize that not attending court can lead to a warrant for their arrest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sekhon |first=Nirej |date=2018 |title=Dangerous Warrants |url=https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5048&context=wlr |journal=Washington Law Review |volume=93 |pages=984}}</ref> For serious felonies, FTAs are relatively rare. The most recent data available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics demonstrate that 83% of felony defendants will never miss a court date.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Reaves |first=Brian A. |date=December 2013 |title=Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 - Statistical Tables |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/fdluc09.pdf |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref> The majority of those who miss an appearance will return to court within one year.<ref name=":5" /> FTA rates are also challenging to measure and compare. Some jurisdictions treat a single-missed court appearance as an FTA, such that a new FTA arises whenever an individual misses a court date in a single legal proceeding.<ref name=":1" /> Other jurisdictions treat all missed court appearances within one legal proceeding as a single FTA.<ref name=":1" />