http://www.apbnews.com/cjsystem/justicenews/2000/05/31/feds0531_01.html Crime, Justice, Safety: 8 Channels -- 26 Programs NEWSCENTER CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM SAFETY CENTER CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSIONALS CRIME SOLVERS RESOURCE CENTER VIDEO CENTER MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT Finding Justice Justice News Free E-mail Alert Live Police Scanners Forums Search My APB About APB Contact APB Newsletters Downloads APBNEWS.COM > CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM > JUSTICE NEWS > STORY War on Drugs, Aliens Swells Federal Prisons Incarceration Levels Hit All-Time High May 31, 2000 By Hans H. Chen WASHINGTON (APBnews.com) -- America's continuing campaigns against illicit drugs and illegal immigrants have driven the number of federal inmates above 100,000 for the first time, overworking agents, overwhelming judges and overcrowding prisons. Armed federal agents from 66 different departments launched investigations against 115,692 people in 1998, 5 percent more than the 110,034 investigations in 1997, according to the 1998 Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, a report released today by the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. For the first time this year, the annual compendium, which tracks trends in the federal justice system from investigation to trial to appeal, collected and compared arrest data from each federal law enforcement agency. Agents made 106,139 arrests in 1998. The U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for collecting fugitives and executing arrest warrants for other federal agencies, led all the other agencies with 28,618 arrests. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) arrested 24,143. The FBI came in a distant third with 11,659 arrests, followed closely by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with 11,153 arrests. Drug convicts likely to be sentenced Related Stories: Alien Crime Costing U.S. Tax Payers Plenty Changing the Law for Convicted Immigrants Related Link: Drugs produced a significant impact on all areas of the federal criminal justice system. The number of defendants prosecuted in federal courts rose 12.7 percent in 1998, from 69,351 in 1997 to 78,172 in 1998. Nearly 40 percent of that increase came from an increase in federal drug charges. Federal prosecutors were more likely to pursue drug cases than any other offense, and drug convicts were also the most likely to be sentenced to prison after a guilty plea or verdict. Ninety-two percent of the federal drug convicts were sentenced to serve time, compared to 91 percent of violent felony convicts, and 83 percent of "public order" offenders such as tax evaders, racketeers, weapons traffickers and violators of federal regulations. Drug offenders made up the greatest bulk, 58 percent, of federal prisoners. Some have criticized the war on drugs as pointless, misguided and expensive. But the National Office on Drug Control Policy defended the growing number of arrests and drug enforcement resources. "That social disapproval, including the work that law enforcement does, is one of the ways that parents and teachers and ministers and coaches and mentors are armed to help kids stay off drugs," said Bob Weiner, a spokesman for the office. INS grows to largest agency More aggressive immigration enforcement has also had a significant impact on federal courts and prisons. The INS increased its number of suspects under investigation by 50 percent last year. Increases in immigration cases made up 29 percent of the federal increase in prosecutions last year. The INS has grown explosively in the past several years and is now the largest law enforcement agency in Washington. The Border Patrol, the INS' largest division, has grown from 3,920 agents in 1993 to 7,714 agents in 1998. "The objective is to regain control of borders and restore credibility for our nation's immigration policy," said Russ Bergeron, an INS spokesman. 'Cases are going to end up in court' But regaining control of America's borders and fighting a drug war comes at a cost. "When there's an increase in prosecutions, or an increase in arrests, people need to realize that these cases are going to end up in court," said David Sellers, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. "And we need more resources, or the federal courts could become the choking point of the system." The number of cases pending in federal district courts increased 52.3 percent from 28,738 cases in 1995 to 43,689 in 1999. The problem is especially severe along the Southwest border, where frightened, confused illegal immigrants are paraded, assembly-line fashion, in front of overworked judges. The number of immigration cases here has grown 125 percent since 1994 and drug cases have doubled. Since 1994, DEA personnel have increased 155 percent, Border Patrol personnel have doubled, and INS personnel has risen 93 percent. Meanwhile, Sellers said, the number of judges and magistrates rose only 4 percent. Decrease in pretrial release Overcrowding is also a problem for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). With 96 institutions, the BOP is still running 34 percent over capacity and constructing 12 more facilities for an extra 12,516 beds. "We've seen record numbers of inmates coming into our system on both monthly evaluations and yearly reviews of intakes," said Scott Wolfson, a BOP spokesman. "The numbers continue to increase for us." The compendium also reported that: A third of all arrests were for "public-order" charges: illegal immigration, federal regulation violations and racketeering and tax violations. Drug arrests made up 29 percent of arrests, property crimes 16 percent, parole and probation violations 15 percent, violent crimes 5 percent and secure witness supervision 3 percent. About 43 percent of all federal defendants in 1998 were released on bail or other forms of pretrial release, down from 62 percent in 1997. Federal prosecutors won guilty verdicts in 90 percent of their felony cases. Seventy-one percent of those convicted in federal court were sent to prison, with an average sentence of 58.8 months. Seventeen percent of federal convicts appealed at least part of their verdict, down from 21 percent in 1994. Appeals courts upheld the district court ruling, at least in part, in 82 percent of the appeals. Hans H. Chen is an APBnews.com staff writer ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). �Copyright 2000 APB Online, Inc. All rights reserved. ABOUT APB
