[Budget of the United States Government]
[V. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[26. Administration of Justice]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                     26.  ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

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                     Table 26-1.  Federal Resources in Support of Administration of Justice
                                            (In millions of dollars)
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                                                                               Estimate
               Function 750                   1999   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     2000      2001      2002      2003      2004      2005
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Spending:
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    26,488    26,648    29,000    29,956    30,121    30,291    30,938
  Mandatory Outlays:
    Existing law..........................       937     1,491     1,504       794       657     2,111     2,169
    Proposed legislation..................  ........  ........  ........  ........  ........    -1,460    -1,524
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   In 2001, the Federal Government will spend $29 billion on the 
administration of justice--including law enforcement, litigation, 
judicial and correctional activities--doubling the amount spent in 1993. 
Total Federal, State, and local resources devoted to the administration 
of justice are estimated to grow from $98 billion in 1993 to an 
estimated $175 billion in 2001--a 79-percent increase (see Chart 26-1).
   Representing the lowest annual serious crime count since 1985, the 
1998 Crime Index total was estimated at approximately 12.5 million 
offenses. Down 14 percent from 1992, this total represented the seventh 
consecutive annual decline in the Crime Index. And continuing this 
success, the number reported in the first six months of 1999, the most 
recent period for which figures are available, was ten percent lower 
than in the same period in 1998.
   While States and localities bear most of the responsibility for 
fighting crime, the Federal Government plays a critical role, both in 
supporting State and local activities and investigating and prosecuting 
criminal acts that require a Federal response. Although crime is 
affected by varying factors, the fact that the national crime rate has 
dropped at the same time that Federal anti-crime spending has increased 
points to a causal relationship. The budget builds upon this record by 
continuing to provide substantial funding for proven anti-crime 
programs.

                                     


   Funding for the administration of justice function includes: (1) law 
enforcement, which includes investigation, litigation and judicial 
activities; (2) correctional activities; and, (3) assistance to State 
and local entities (see Chart 26-2). In 2001, 68 percent of these funds 
will go to the Justice Department while the majority of the remaining 
funds will go to the Treasury Department and the Judicial Branch.

                                     


Law Enforcement

   Department of Justice (DOJ): Within DOJ, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 
enforce diverse Federal laws dealing with violent crime, terrorism, 
white collar crime, drug smuggling, and many other criminal acts. These 
agencies also work with State and local law enforcement agencies, often 
through joint task forces, to address drug, gang, and other violent 
crime problems. The United States Attorneys Offices then prosecute those 
cases investigated by the law enforcement agencies in which perpetrators 
have been apprehended for Federal crimes. 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.

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   DOJ also contains six legal divisions specializing in specific areas 
of criminal and civil law. These divisions--the Civil, Criminal, Civil 
Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, Tax, and Antitrust 
Divisions--work with the U.S. Attorneys to ensure that violators of 
Federal laws are brought to justice.
   In 2001, the Federal Government will continue its commitment 
          to reduce the incidence of violent crime. In 1994, the FBI 
          reported 714 offenses per 100,000 population; in 1998, the 
          number was down to 566 offenses per 100,000.
   DOJ will also increase the number of dismantled violent gangs 
          affiliated with the FBI's seven national target groups. In 
          1999, DOJ dismantled 30 of these violent gangs and plans to 
          dismantle 50 more in 2001.
   DOJ's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) protects the U.S. 
borders from illegal immigration while providing services to legal 
aliens. Since 1993, INS has added over 5,400 new Border Patrol agents, 
more than 130 percent of the 1993 level, and intends to add 430 
additional agents in 2001.
   As part of its comprehensive enforcement strategy, INS 
          removed 178,168 illegal aliens pursuant to final removal 
          orders from the United States in 1999, up from 172,515 in 
          1998, and plans to increase that number to 195,000 in 2001, of 
          which over 70,000 will be criminal aliens.
   DOJ, in conjunction with the Treasury and Agriculture 
          Departments, plans to increase the percent of air passengers 
          cleared through primary inspection in 30 minutes or less from 
          61 percent in 1998 to over 70 percent in 2001.
   INS has reduced the average time between application receipt 
          and naturalization decisions of qualified candidates from 27 
          months in 1998 to 12 months in 1999 and

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          intends to reduce the time to six months in 2001 and maintain 
          this standard in the future.
   Within DOJ, the U.S. Marshals Service protects the Federal courts and 
their officers; apprehends fugitives; and maintains custody of prisoners 
involved in judicial proceedings.
   In 2001, the U.S. Marshals intends to continue to improve its 
          performance, apprehending 80 percent of violent offenders 
          within one year of a warrant's issuance, and reducing the 
          fugitive backlog by five percent from 1999 levels. At the end 
          of 1999, there were 8,642 outstanding fugitive warrants.
   In addition, the U.S. Marshals will strive to ensure that no 
          judge, witness, or other court participant is the victim of an 
          assault stemming from his or her involvement in a Federal 
          court proceeding. This is an ongoing standard of zero 
          tolerance related to court security.

  Treasury Department: Within the Treasury Department, the U.S. Customs 
Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), United States 
Secret Service, and other bureaus enforce laws related to drug and 
contraband at our borders; commercial fraud; firearms trafficking; arson 
and explosives crimes; and financial crimes, including money laundering, 
counterfeiting, and credit card fraud. In addition, the Customs Service 
regulates the importation and exportation of goods; ATF regulates the 
alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives industries; and, the Secret 
Service protects the President, Vice President, and visiting foreign 
dignitaries. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center provides basic 
and advanced training to Treasury and other law enforcement personnel. 
In 2001, the Treasury Department will:
   help solve violent crimes and reduce firearms trafficking by 
          tracing up to 240,000 firearms used in criminal activities, 
          compared to 188,299 in 1998;

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   ensure the physical protection of the President, Vice 
          President, visiting foreign dignitaries, and others protected 
          by the Secret Service;
   have at least 50 percent of Secret Service financial crime 
          cases accepted for federal prosecution, up from 49 percent in 
          1996;
   maintain or improve upon its 99 percent collection rate for 
          trade revenue (duties, taxes, and user fees); and,
   improve importers' compliance with trade laws (e.g., quotas, 
          trademarks, classification, etc.) from 81 percent in 1997 to 
          90 percent in 2001.

   Federal Drug Control Activities: The Office of National Drug Control 
Policy has led the Federal drug control agencies in the development of a 
comprehensive set of aggressive societal goals for anti-drug programs, 
recognizing that achieving National Drug Control Strategy Objectives 
depends critically on the actions of not only the Federal Government, 
but of State, local, and foreign governments, the private sector, 
religious institutions and not-for-profit agencies, and on the behavior 
of individuals. At the core of these crosscutting goals are 12 Impact 
Targets that define what the drug control community is trying to achieve 
by 2002 and 2007. Following are three of these goals for 2002:
   Reduce the overall rate of illegal drug use in the United 
          States by 25 percent, from the 1996 baseline of 6.1 percent to 
          4.6 percent. In 1998, the overall rate of illegal drug use was 
          6.2 percent, statistically unchanged from the 6.4 percent 
          reported in 1997.
   Reduce the rate of crime associated with drug trafficking and 
          use by 15 percent from the 1996 baseline. (The rate of violent 
          crime, regardless of cause, from the Uniform Crime Reports 
          will be used as a proxy measure. In 1998, the violent crime 
          rate was 566 per 100,000 U.S. inhabitants, compared to 636 in 
          1996, an 11 percent decline.)
   Reduce by 10 percent from the 1996 baseline the health and 
          social costs associated with drug use.

   Civil Rights Laws: Federal responsibility to enforce civil rights 
laws in employment and housing arises from Titles VII and VIII of the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as more recent legislation, including 
the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with 
Disabilities Act. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 
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. DOJ's Civil Rights 
Division and the U.S. Attorneys enforce a variety of criminal and civil 
statutes that protect the constitutional and statutory rights of the 
Nation's citizens. In 2001, DOJ will devote increased attention to 
criminal civil rights violations with the Civil Rights Division, FBI and 
U.S. Attorneys working to improve the Federal response to hate crimes, 
police misconduct and involuntary servitude matters, including worker 
exploitation, church arson and discrimination and violence directed 
against health care providers.
   In an effort to serve the public better, the Equal Employment 
          Opportunity Commission will reduce the backlog of private 
          sector complaints from 40,225 at the end of 1999 to 28,000 at 
          the end of 2001. The backlog was reduced from 57,000 to 40,225 
          during 1999.
   In the final year of a three year initiative, HUD will ensure 
          that grantees in an additional 20 communities (for a total of 
          60) undertake fair housing audit-based enforcement to develop 
          local indices of discrimination, identify and pursue 
          violations of fair housing laws, and promote new fair housing 
          enforcement initiatives at the local level.

   Legal Services Corporation: The Federal Government, through the Legal 
Services Corporation (LSC), also promotes equal access to the Nation's 
legal system by funding local organizations that provide legal 
assistance to the poor in civil cases.

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   In 1998, LSC assisted 1.1 million people; the 2001 requested 
          funding level will allow for assistance to be provided to 1.3 
          million people.

   Judicial Branch: The Judiciary's growth in recent years arises from 
increased Federal enforcement efforts and expansion of the Federal 
courts' jurisdiction. Accounting for 14 percent of total administration 
of justice spending, the Judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and 12 
circuit courts of appeals, 94 district courts, 90 bankruptcy courts, 94 
Federal probation offices, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 
and the Court of International Trade. The Federal Judiciary is overseen 
by 2,201 Federal judges and nine Supreme Court justices.

Correctional Activities

   The budget proposes $4.4 billion for corrections activities. As of 
December 1999, there were over 136,000 inmates in the Federal Prison 
System, more than double the number in 1990. This growth, which is 
expected to continue, is due to tougher sentencing guidelines, the 
abolition of parole, minimum mandatory sentences, and significant 
increases in law enforcement spending. This increase has been felt most 
by drug offenders, who now account for approximately 60 percent of 
inmates in the Federal system. The total U.S. inmate population, of 
which the Federal Prison System represents less than one tenth, has 
increased as well and is expected to reach two million during 2000. 
State inmate populations have grown, in part, due to sentencing 
requirements tied to Federal prison grant funds.
   Due to the increase in the Federal inmate population, the 
          prison system is currently operating at 32 percent over 
          capacity, up from 22 percent at the end of 1997. To reverse 
          this trend, the 2001 budget includes significant new funding 
          to add prison bed capacity and expand the prison construction 
          program, thus reducing system wide overcrowding to 
          approximately 30 percent by the end of 2001 and to 28 percent 
          by 2006.
   The 2001 budget also provides additional funding to ensure 
          the Federal Bureau of Prisons continues to enroll at least 34 
          percent of all inmates in one or more educational program, the 
          percent enrolled in 1998.

Criminal Justice Assistance for State and Local Governments

   Providing Community Policing and Preventing Gun Violence: The budget 
proposes $4.4 billion to help State and local governments fight crime, 
including $550 million to assist crime victims. The 2001 Budget builds 
on the success of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) 
program and includes $1.3 billion for the second year of the 21st 
Century Policing Initiative. This program expands the concept of 
community policing to include community prosecution, law enforcement 
technology assistance, and prevention.
   In 2001, DOJ will continue providing States and localities 
          with funds to hire additional officers in order to reach the 
          goal of up to 150,000 additional police officers by 2005. As 
          of the end of 1999, DOJ provided funding to place 103,720 more 
          officers on the street.
   To address the continuing problem of gun violence, the Administration 
continues to support an effort under the Brady Law to keep guns out of 
the hands of criminals and to make America's streets safer. As part of 
this effort, DOJ, working with the States, is now conducting 
computerized background checks on all firearm purchases. The instacheck 
system has been used to block more than 100 illegal gun sales a day 
since the program was implemented. Since 1993, the number of crimes 
committed with firearms has declined and has now fallen to levels last 
experienced in the mid 1980's.
   In 1999, 62,189 people with criminal records were prevented 
          from purchasing firearms. To continue to ensure that felons, 
          fugitives, stalkers and other prohibited purchasers are 
          prevented from buying guns, over 12 million prospective gun 
          sales will be reviewed in 2001.

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   Stopping Violence against Women: To combat the significant problem of 
violence against women, the budget proposes $504 million to enhance the 
States' abilities to respond, and to further expand access to previously 
under-served rural, Indian, and other minority populations.
   As a result of grants that encourage arrests, DOJ will seek 
          to increase by 145 percent over the 1997 baseline estimate of 
          50, the number of grantees reporting a decrease in domestic 
          violence calls in 2001.

   Combating Juvenile Delinquency: To prevent young people from becoming 
involved in the juvenile justice system, the budget includes $289 
million for juvenile justice programs, including those that provide 
supervised afternoon and evening activities for youth.
   In 2001, compared with 2000 levels, DOJ will seek to reduce 
          the incidence of juveniles illegally carrying guns and reduce 
          the number of juvenile gun-related crimes.
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