[Economic Outlook, Highlights from FY 1994 to FY 2001, FY 2002 Baseline Projections]
[III. Major Functions of the Federal Government]
[17.  Administration of Justice]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                     17.  ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                     Table 17-1.  Federal Resources in Support of Administration of Justice
                                          (Dollar amounts in millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        Percent
                                Function 750                                     1993        2001       Change:
                                                                                Actual     Estimate    1993-2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending:
  Discretionary budget authority............................................     14,613      29,982        105%
  Mandatory outlays.........................................................        302         672        123%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  The Clinton-Gore Administration pursued successful initiatives to 
reduce crime and improve the Nation's legal system: the Community 
Oriented Policing Services Program; reform of the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service; strengthening firearms enforcement; reducing 
juvenile crime, especially gun-related violence; preventing terrorism; 
combating drug use; and, protecting all Americans by supporting 
increases for civil rights enforcement, the Legal Services Corporation, 
and Violence Against Women Act programs.
  In 2001, the Federal Government will expend almost $30 billion in 
discretionary budget authority on the administration of justice--
including law enforcement, litigation, judicial and correctional 
activities--more than double the amount spent in 1993, and an 80-percent 
increase in constant dollars terms. Total Federal, State, and local 
resources devoted to the administration of justice have grown by 80 
percent, from $98 billion in 1993 to an estimated $175 billion in 2001 
(see Chart 17-1), a 55-percent increase in constant dollars terms. 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 suggests a causal relationship. Representing the 
lowest annual serious crime count since 1985, the 1999 Crime Index total 
was estimated at approximately 11.6 million offenses. Down 19 percent 
from 1992, this represented the eighth consecutive annual decline in the 
Crime Index.
  Funding for the administration of justice function includes: (1) law 
enforcement; (2) litigation and judicial activities; (3) correctional 
activities; and, (4) criminal justice assistance to State and local 
entities. Discretionary budget authority for law enforcement is still 
the largest portion of this funding (42 percent) in 2001. However, the 
most dramatic change since 1993 has been in criminal justice assistance, 
which has grown 458 percent, an average increase of 24 percent per year 
(see Chart 17-2). 

                                     


Law Enforcement

  Department of Justice (DOJ): The Department of Justice represents 70 
percent of total Federal spending for law enforcement, enforcing diverse 
Federal laws dealing with national security, terrorism, illegal 
immigration, violent crime, drug smuggling, white collar crime, and many 
other criminal acts. In carrying out these activities, DOJ works closely 
with other Federal agencies, and with State and local law enforcement 
agencies, often through joint task forces.

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  National Security and Terrorism: Since 1993, DOJ, with strong 
          support from the Administration and the Congress, has acted 
          aggressively to prevent, mitigate, and investigate acts of 
          terrorism, including the use of weapons of mass destruction 
          and the emerging threat of cybercrime. The Department spent 
          $782 million in 2000 to combat terrorism, primarily in the FBI 
          ($467 million) and the Office of Justice Programs ($152 
          million).
          The FBI has primary responsibility for preventing domestic 
          acts of terrorism. If an incident should occur, it is the lead 
          investigative agency. The FBI also has developed the capacity 
          to mitigate and investigate cyber attacks against the Federal 
          Government, the Nation's critical infrastructure, and American 
          businesses. The Criminal Division within DOJ provides 
          prosecutive assistance for all terrorist incidents, including 
          cyberterrorism, serving as a focal point for such efforts at 
          all levels of law enforcement.
          The Nation must be prepared to deal with terrorist events 
          involving the use of weapons of mass destruction, such as 
          biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons. State and local 
          public safety agencies would be responsible for managing the 
          consequences of such incidents if they should occur. DOJ and 
          other Federal agencies support the necessary training and 
          equipping of the State and local agencies to ensure their 
          readiness. The FBI houses the National Domestic Preparedness 
          Office, which coordinates all Federal programs supporting 
          State and local ``first responders.''
  Immigration Enforcement and Services: DOJ's Immigration and 
          Naturalization Service (INS) protects the U.S. borders from 
          illegal immigration while providing services to legal aliens. 
          To keep pace with one of the busiest periods of immigration-

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          related activity in the Nation's history and to meet the 
          expanded scope and complexity of the INS mission, the 
          Administration and the Congress increased the agency's budget 
          by more than 180 percent, from $1.5 billion in 1993 to $4.3 
          billion in 2000. Staffing levels grew at a similar pace, with 
          INS adding 15,200 employees since 1993, for total agency 
          staffing level of 32,000 in 2000.
          From 1993 through 2000, the INS received nearly 6.9 million 
          applications from immigrants who applied for citizenship--more 
          than the total in the previous 40 years combined. By 1998 the 
          backlog of naturalization applications had grown to more than 
          1.8 million and processing time was over 27 months. In 
          response, the Administration provided additional resources, 
          streamlined the process, ensured dedicated leadership and 
          measured performance. By the end of 2000, the application 
          backlog was below one million for the first time in four years 
          and INS had achieved its citizenship processing time goal of 
          six to nine months while maintaining high levels of integrity.
          INS achieved dramatic results in stemming the flow of illegal 
          aliens into the U.S. by following an aggressive border 
          management strategy that combined additional Border Patrol 
          agents, technology and border barriers. From 1993 to 2000, INS 
          increased the number of Border Patrol agents by 132 percent 
          from 3,965 to over 9,200 agents. These agents improved the 
          quality of life in border communities through targeted 
          enforcement operations.
    --Operation Gatekeeper reduced illegal entries along the San Diego 
      border to their lowest level in 25 years and contributed to a 34-
      percent drop in overall crime rates in the San Diego area. Once 
      the busiest illegal crossing area in the Nation, San Diego Chief 
      of Police David

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      Bejarano stated that after Operation Gatekeeper San Diego ``. . . 
      is without question the quietest and safest the border has ever 
      been in this area.'' Similar results were achieved through 
      targeted INS enforcement operations in select locations in Texas, 
      Arizona, and New Mexico.

    --Every year since 1993, INS has set new records for the 
      incarceration and removal of illegal aliens, restoring credibility 
      to the Nation's immigration laws. Preliminary figures for 2000 
      show 181,572 removals, more than a quadrupling of the 1993 number. 
      Much of this growth is attributable to the dramatic rise of 
      criminal removals in cooperation with other law enforcement 
      agencies, which reached over 69,000 in 1999--more than 20 times 
      the number in 1993.

  Department of the Treasury: Within the Department of the Treasury, the 
U.S. Customs Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), 
U.S. 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 U.S. Customs 
Service regulates the importation and exportation of goods; ATF 
regulates and enforces criminal laws pertaining to alcohol, tobacco, 
firearms, and explosives; 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. The Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network supports law enforcement agencies in the detection, 
investigation and prosecution of domestic and international money 
laundering. In addition, DOJ and Treasury have annually submitted to the 
Congress two strategies for combating money laundering as required by 
the Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act of 1998.
  During the last eight years, the Treasury Department's law enforcement 
bureaus have:
  successfully met the challenge of dramatically increased 
          import levels due to the implementation of the North American 
          Free Trade Agreement (10.6 million formal and informal entries 
          in 1993 as compared to 21.4 million in 1999);
  achieved a trade compliance level of 83 percent for all 
          imported goods, a revenue collection compliance rate of 98.8 
          percent, and began development and implementation of the 
          Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), an automated import 
          system designed to effectively process an ever increasing 
          volume of trade, in accordance with regulations of the 1993 
          Customs Modernization Act; and,
  maintained law enforcement capabilities in a rapidly changing 
          technological environment, such as the use of encryption by 
          criminals and the introduction of digital communications 
          equipment and Internet communications impervious to 
          traditional court-approved wiretaps.

  Gun Violence Prevention Efforts: To address the continuing problem of 
gun violence, the Administration has sought to improve enforcement of 
firearms laws and aggressively implement provisions of the Brady Act. 
Keeping guns out of the hands of criminals has made America's streets 
safer. Since 1993, the number of crimes committed with firearms has 
declined by 35 percent.
  DOJ, working with the States, is now conducting computerized 
          background checks on all firearm purchases. As of 1999, the 
          Instacheck system has been used to block more than 611,000 
          illegal gun sales since the program was implemented;
  The ATF has invested in the development and dissemination of 
          investigative information, including tripling the number of 
          crime gun traces from 79,191 in 1994 to 225,000 in 2000, 
          establishing a ballistics information system, efficiently 
          providing follow-up analysis of Brady background check 
          information, and establishing regular reporting of national 
          and local crime gun information to assist law enforcement 
          agencies and the firearms industry;
  The Treasury Department also provides firearms expertise and 
          technical assistance to State and local law enforcement, the 
          U.S. Attorneys Office and local prosecutors

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          to craft solutions responsive to the specific needs of each 
          community such as the Boston Gun Project/Boston Ceasefire and 
          Project Exile in Richmond.

  Federal Drug Control Activities: The Office of National Drug Control 
Policy established a comprehensive, 10-year National Drug Control 
Strategy that incorporated aggressive societal goals for anti-drug 
programs. Achieving these goals depends not only on the Federal 
Government, but on State, local, and foreign governments, the private 
sector, religious institutions and not-for-profit agencies, and on the 
behavior of individuals. Although some progress has been realized, 
particularly among high school age youth, drug use in the United States 
remains unacceptably high and imposes substantial costs on society. 
Recent accomplishments in this area include:
  Overall drug use in the United States is substantially below the level 
found 20 years ago. The number of current users of illicit drugs has 
dropped from 14.1 percent to 6.7 percent of the population over the age 
of 12. Most of this change occurred before 1988, and since that year the 
rate of overall drug use remained statistically unchanged.
  Drug use among youth has declined by more than one-third (37 
          percent) since 1979. More recently, reported levels of drug 
          use increased during the 1990s, starting in 1992, and 
          continued to increase until 1997. The rate of current use of 
          any illicit drug among 12-17 year-olds declined 21 percent 
          between 1997 and 1999, the first statistically significant 
          drop in four years.
  A decline in the perceived risk of harm from the regular use 
          of marijuana among students in high school and junior high 
          school, which began in the early 90s, has stopped, and in some 
          cases perceptions of risk may be increasing. Among 8th grade 
          students surveyed in 2000, about 75 percent believe there is a 
          great risk of physical or other harm from regular use of 
          marijuana, an increase of 4 percent since 1996. Among 10th 
          graders, about 65 percent perceive such a risk, essentially 
          the same level as the past four years. Among 12th grade 
          students, 58 percent reported believing regular marijuana use 
          presents a great risk, compared to 60 percent in 1996.
  An ambitious, comprehensive communications strategy that uses 
          a variety of media and messages to educate and encourage youth 
          to reject illicit drugs has been implemented. This Youth Anti-
          Drug Media Campaign is a research-based program developed by 
          experts in behavior change, drug prevention, teen marketing, 
          advertising and communications, and representatives from 
          professional, civic, and community organizations. A recent 
          survey of teenagers and their parents found that 90 percent of 
          both groups recalled seeing at least one Campaign-funded ad in 
          the prior month.
  In 2001, $19.2 billion was appropriated for Federal drug control 
programs administered by approximately 50 Federal agencies, representing 
about 1 percent of the total Federal budget and about 3 percent of all 
discretionary funds. The amount appropriated for Federal drug control 
programs has increased by $6.5 billion, or 51 percent, since 1992. Chart 
17-3 depicts annual Federal funding for the five major types of drug 
control activities. The total for 2000 includes the $1.3 billion Plan 
Colombia program discussed in Chapter 3, ``International Affairs.''

                                     


  Civil Rights Laws: Federal responsibility for enforcing civil rights 
laws that provide protections from discrimination on the basis of race, 
color, religion, gender, national origin, disability, age, and marital 
status is accomplished by several principal agencies, including the 
Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the 94 U.S. 
Attorneys offices, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), 
and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Civil 
Rights Division has primary litigation authority for the enforcement of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair 
Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Freedom of Access to 
Clinic Entrances Act, and a number of criminal and civil statutes, 
including laws prohibiting police misconduct. HUD enforces laws that 
prohibit discrimination in the sale or rental, provision of brokerage 
services, or financing of housing.

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The EEOC enforces laws that prohibit employment discrimination.
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              Table 17-2.  Civil Rights Enforcement Funding
               (Budget authority, in millions of dollars)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Actual
                                        ----------------------    2001
                                            1999       2000     Enacted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission        279        281        304
Justice: Civil Rights Division.........         69         82         92
Education: Office for Civil Rights.....         66         71         76
Labor: Federal Contract Compliance.....         65         73         76
Housing and Urban Development: Fair             40         44         46
 Housing Activities Grants.............
Health and Human Services: Office for           21         23         28
 Civil Rights..........................
Agriculture: Civil Rights Programs.....          5         18         20
Transportation: Office of Civil Rights.          2          7          8
Labor: Civil Rights Center.............          5          6          6
Environmental Protection Agency: Office          3          5          5
 of Civil Rights.......................
                                        --------------------------------
  Total................................        555        610        661
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Over the past eight years, approximately 400 defendants were 
          prosecuted and convicted on Federal hate crime charges for 
          interfering with federally protected rights of African 
          American, Latino, Native American, and Jewish victims. In 
          1996, following a rash of fires at churches in the South, the 
          President and Attorney General created the National Church 
          Arson Task Force. Co-chaired by the Assistant Attorney General 
          for Civil Rights, the interagency task force opened nearly 
          1,000 investigations into arson, bombings at our Nation's 
          houses of worship and prosecuted more than 300 defendants.
  To reduce its backlog, in the past decade the EEOC has 
          implemented changes to speed processing, notably through the 
          prioritization of charges and greater use of mediation 
          services. By the end of 1999, the EEOC had reduced its 
          private-sector backlog to just over 40,000 complaints, a 15-
          year low.
  During this Administration, HUD's Office of Fair Housing and 
          Equal Opportunities doubled the number of enforcement actions 
          brought against perpetrators of housing discrimination. HUD is 
          now achieving a rate of 60 to 70 enforcement actions a month, 
          compared with 25 to 30 enforcement actions during the 
          Administration's first term.
  The Administration fought vigorously, but unsuccessfully, to 
          expand the Federal Government's ability to combat hate crimes 
          by removing jurisdictional obstacles and by giving Federal 
          prosecutors the ability to prosecute hate crimes based on 
          sexual orientation, gender, or disability, along with those 
          based on race, color, religion, and national origin.

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Litigation and Judicial Activities

  Department of Justice: United States Attorneys offices are the chief 
prosecutive arm of the Federal Government within their judicial district 
and are responsible for the majority of criminal and civil litigation 
for the United States. Each U.S. Attorney's office is responsible for 
investigating and prosecuting alleged violations of Federal law brought 
to their attention by Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
agencies.
  Their mission of bringing to trial and convicting those who violate 
Federal law is supported by the six litigating divisions of DOJ. These 
six divisions--the Civil, Criminal, Civil Rights, Environment and 
Natural Resources, Tax, and Antitrust Divisions--specialize in specific 
areas of law and have activities that range from providing prosecutive 
assistance to U.S. Attorneys offices, to bringing their own substantial 
cases to trial.

  Legal Services Corporation: The Federal Government, through the Legal 
Services Corporation (LSC), promotes equal access to the Nation's legal 
system by providing funding for civil legal assistance to low income 
clients who seek redress of grievances. Each year LSC helps to provide 
high quality legal assistance to approximately one million clients in 
such areas as domestic violence, child custody, visitation rights, 
evictions, access to health care, and unemployment and disability 
claims.
  Judicial Branch: The Judicial Branch is comprised of over 2,100 trial 
judges, magistrates, and bankruptcy judges, in addition to the nine 
justices of the Supreme Court. The system is made up of a three-tiered 
hierarchy with the Supreme Court at the top, the 13 courts of appeals in 
the middle, and the 94 district courts, the Court of International 
Trade, and the Court of Federal Claims at the bottom. The Federal 
judicial system is empowered by Article III of the Constitution to 
ensure that certain rights and liberties are extended to all persons. 
The system has witnessed historic growth in recent years that is chiefly 
attributable to the expanding jurisdiction of Federal courts in the form 
of over 200 new Federal laws, and the increased criminal filings in 
district courts along the Southwestern United States border where five 
districts now account for 27 percent of all criminal filings nationwide.

Correctional Activities

  Between 1993 and 2001, the Federal Government will have spent almost 
$4 billion on constructing new prisons. During that time, the Federal 
prison population has grown by over 64 percent, from 88,565 in 1993

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to145,969 in 2000. The past three years show record growth in the 
Federal prison population. Between 1998 and 2000, over 33,000 inmates 
were added to the Federal prison system. During 1999, the Federal prison 
population, rose by 13.4 percent, an increase of 11,296 prisoners, the 
largest 12-month gain ever reported. To respond to the rapid inmate 
growth, Federal prison facilities grew from 72 in 1993 to 97 in 2000, 
with an additional 21 institutions partially funded and in some phase of 
design or construction. With the Federal inmate population expected to 
double over the next seven years, the Bureau of Prisons must develop, 
and continually refine, its projections of inmate growth, as well as 
expertly manage its portfolio of properties available for expansion, 
renovation, and development to house this population. In 2001, the 
Administration requested, but the Congress did not provide, advance 
appropriations of $1.3 billion for Federal prison construction. Current 
inmate population projections, however, clearly illustrate the need for 
a long term capital plan for prison facilities construction.
  Overcrowding has surged in recent years and is expected to remain at 
32 percent system-wide by the end of 2000. Federal prison population 
growth is due to tougher sentencing guidelines, the abolition of parole, 
minimum mandatory sentences, and significant increases in investments in 
Federal law enforcement investigations (e.g., FBI) and prosecutions 
(e.g., U.S. Attorneys). Drug offenders now account for 57 percent of 
inmates in the Federal system. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has 
enrolled approximately 34 percent of all inmates in one or more 
education programs and 100 percent of eligible inmates in residential 
drug treatment programs.
  The total U.S. inmate population, of which the Federal prison system 
represents less than one tenth, reached a record 2 million in December 
2000. State inmate populations have grown, albeit at a slower pace, due 
in part, to sentencing requirements tied to Federal prison grant funds.
  The National Capital and Self Government Revitalization Act of 1997 
transferred the State function of operating prisons from the District of 
Columbia Department of Corrections to the Bureau of Prisons, which will 
be responsible for housing all D.C. adult sentenced felons. Since 
passage of the Act, the Bureau of Prisons has accepted 2,903 D.C. 
inmates of the approximately 8,800 D.C. adult felony inmates. All 
remaining D.C. adult felony inmates will be transferred to the Federal 
prison system when the Lorton facility is closed or by December 31, 
2001, whichever is earlier.

Criminal Justice Assistance for State and Local Governments

  Providing Community Policing: Since 1992, the Federal Government has 
strengthened its role in providing States and local communities with 
resources in their fight against crime. State and local law enforcement 
assistance funding from the Department of Justice has grown five-fold 
over this period, reaching almost $5.2 billion in 2001, including $538 
million to assist crime victims. The most significant of these new 
Federal partnerships with State and local government has been the 
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which was charged 
by President Clinton with carrying out his commitment to put an 
additional 100,000 additional community policing officers on the street. 
In 1999 the COPS program funded its 100,000th officer, and the program 
is now on track towards the new goal of funding up to 150,000 officers 
by 2005.
  As of October 2000, COPS has funded 109,000 officers, of which 
          70,000 are now on the street, working to make America's 
          neighborhoods safer places to live and work. COPS grants have 
          gone to over 12,000 law enforcement agencies, 62 percent of 
          all law enforcement agencies in the United States.
  COPS has provided training to over 128,000 law enforcement 
          personnel and community members, encouraging officers and 
          citizens to work more closely together to fight and prevent 
          crime. As of June 1999, almost 90 percent of local police 
          departments (serving a population of 25,000 or more) had full-
          time personnel engaged in community policing. State and local 
          law enforcement agencies had over 112,600 sworn personnel 
          engaged in community policing, up from 21,239 in 1997.

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  Stopping Violence Against Women: The Administration has worked with 
the Congress to increase funding for programs combating violence against 
women. First authorized as part of the 1994 Crime Act, the Violence 
Against Women Act programs have grown from $26 million in 1995 to $289 
million in 2001, and have helped encourage States, local governments and 
tribal units to treat domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking as 
serious criminal offenses. The number of organizations providing legal 
assistance to domestic violence victims has grown from 54 in 1998 to 100 
in 2000, an 85-percent increase.
  Strengthening Indian Country Law Enforcement: Native Americans are 
almost twice as likely to be the victim of a violent crime as other 
Americans. In 1997, the President directed the Justice and Interior 
Departments to jointly address this disparity and the rising crime rates 
on and near Indian reservations. The 1999 Budget launched a four-year 
Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative, which reached an enacted 
level of $370 million by 2001. The increases have been used to hire, 
train, and retain officers and dispatchers, provide additional 
equipment, replace vehicles, and improve court facilities.
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