[Budget of the U.S. Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: The Major Functions of the Federal Government]
[27. Administration of Justice]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                     27.  ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

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                     Table 27-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE                     
                                            (In millions of dollars)                                            
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                                                                            Estimate                            
            Function 750                1996   -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Actual      1997       1998       1999       2000       2001       2002  
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Spending:                                                                                                       
  Discretionary Budget Authority...     20,684     22,819     24,415     25,186     24,382     24,806     25,518
  Mandatory Outlays:                                                                                            
    Existing law...................        -36        767        566        539        400        404        400
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  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Federal, State, and local governments share the responsibility for 
fighting crime. Most of the effort occurs at the State and local level. 
The Federal Government primarily addresses criminal acts that require a 
national response, and supports State and local law enforcement and 
criminal justice activities.
  Federal, State, and local resources devoted to the administration of 
justice--including law enforcement, litigation, judicial, and 
correctional--have grown from $68.3 billion in 1988 to an estimated 
$139.4 billion in 1997--by 104 percent or, as Chart 27-1 illustrates, by 
53 percent in constant 1988 dollars. During this same period, the 
Federal law enforcement component, including transfer payments to State 
and local law enforcement activities, grew by 151 percent, from $9.5 
billion in 1988 to $23.9 billion in 1997. Despite this growth, Federal 
resources account for only about 17 percent of total governmental 
spending for administration of justice. 


  Nevertheless, Federal resources devoted to law enforcement and crime 
prevention are consuming a larger slice of total Federal discretionary 
spending. In 1988, administration of justice expenditures were about two 
percent of Federal discretionary spending. In 1997, they will consume 
nearly five percent.

Federal Activities

   Federal funding for the Administration of Justice function includes: 
(1) Federal law enforcement activities; (2) litigation and judicial 
activities; (3) correctional activities; and (4) financial assistance to 
State and local entities. Most of these funds go to the Departments of 
Justice and the Treasury, and to the Judiciary (see Chart 27-2).


                                     

  Law Enforcement: The budget proposes $24.9 billion in 1998 to enforce 
a wide range of laws, reflecting the unique Federal role in law 
enforcement. Some responsibilities--such as customs enforcement--date 
from the beginning of the country. The Justice Department's Federal 
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 
and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) enforce diverse Federal 
laws dealing with terrorism, white collar crime, border control, drug 
smuggling, and many other criminal acts. The Treasury Department 
enforces laws related to smuggling drugs and contraband across our 
borders, and to regulating trade, telecommunications, financial 
institutions, and the alcohol, tobacco, and firearms industries. 
Treasury also trains Federal law enforcement agency personnel and 
protects the President, the Vice President, and foreign dignitaries. 
These Federal agencies, and the ones discussed below, also work with 
State and local law enforcement agencies, often through joint task 
forces to address drug, gang, and other violent crime problems, as well 
as civil rights laws.
  The Federal responsibility to enforce civil rights laws in the areas 
of employment 

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and housing arises from Title VII and Title VIII of the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and is further augmented by more 
recent civil rights legislation, including the Age Discrimination in 
Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department 
of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and 
Equal Opportunity enforces laws that prohibit discrimination on the 
basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, familial status, or 
national origin in the sale or rental, provision of brokerage services, 
or financing of housing. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 
enforces laws that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of 
race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, and national origin.

  Litigation and Judicial Activities: Of course, after such law 
enforcement agencies as the FBI, DEA, and Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco and Firearms have investigated and apprehended perpetrators of 
Federal crimes, the United States must prosecute them--and the budget 
proposes $6.7 billion for this purpose. This task falls to the 93 United 
States Attorneys and the 4,450 Assistant United States Attorneys. Along 
with prosecuting cases referred by Federal law enforcement agencies, the 
U.S. Attorneys work with State and local police and prosecutors in their 
efforts to bring to justice those who have violated Federal laws--
whether international drug traffickers, organized crime ringleaders, or 
perpetrators of white collar fraud.
  In addition, the Justice Department contains several legal divisions 
specializing in specific areas of criminal and civil law. These 
divisions--including the Civil, Criminal, Civil Rights, Environment and 
Natural Resources, Tax, and Antitrust Divisions--work with the U.S. 
Attorneys to ensure that violators of a myriad assortment of Federal 
laws are brought to justice. Individuals and corporations who would 
knowingly and illegally pollute a local river, evade Federal income 
taxes, or conspire to fix consumer prices are all targets of Federal 
prosecutors. The 

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Federal Government, through the Legal Services Corporation, also promotes equal access to the Nation's legal system by funding local organizations that provide legal assistance to the poor in civil cases.
  As for the Federal Judiciary, its rapid growth is a result of 
increased Federal law enforcement efforts over the recent past. 
Accounting for 14 percent of total law enforcement spending, the 
Judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and 196 courts of appeals, 
bankruptcy courts, and district courts, and is overseen by 2,102 Federal 
and Supreme Court judges.

  Corrections Activities: The budget proposes $3.2 billion for 
corrections activities. Due to higher spending on law enforcement and 
other factors, the number of criminals incarcerated also has risen. The 
U.S. inmate population has doubled since 1988, with the total number of 
sentenced inmates exceeding a million during 1996. The Federal inmate 
population--slightly less than a tenth of the State inmate population--
will continue to grow due to the abolition of parole, minimum mandatory 
sentences, and sentencing guidelines. State inmate populations will 
grow, in part, due to stringent sentencing requirements tied to Federal 
prison grant funds. In the Federal system, about 61 percent of the 
inmates serving time have been convicted on drug-related charges.
  Criminal Justice Assistance: The 1994 Crime Act fueled the rapid post-
1994 growth in Federal criminal justice assistance to State and local 
governments, which has increased from $800 million in 1994 to a proposed 
$4.4 billion in 1998. The Act authorized such programs as the Community 
Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, prison grants, and the State 
Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Most funding authorized under the Act 
supports grants to States and localities--designed to help States and 
local criminal justice systems perform their roles as the primary agents 
of law enforcement.

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The Results--and Long-term Trends

  The Justice Department's national crime statistics show that criminal 
offenses reported by law enforcement agencies fell by three percent from 
1995 to 1996--marking the fifth straight year the crime rate has 
dropped. The decrease in crime, when compared with increases in anti-
crime spending during the same period, appears to suggest a general 
relationship. Many factors unrelated to Federal spending, however, also 
probably played an important role in the drop in crime.