Cost, State and Local Spending

Since the last time such costs were calculated in 1999 , costs of fighting crime have increased from $147 billion to $167 billion in 2001, up from only $36 billion in 1982.

While arrests have risen only about 6% since 1982, and the number of court cases has increased only about 6%, costs have skyrocketed. The number of inmates has increased by a factor of 3, up from 488,000 in 1985 to 1.3 million in 2001. Much of this increase reflects more punitive sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing, tougher laws, and "three strikes and you're out" enforcement of those laws. These laws were created in the 1980s and 1990s, when state budgets were increasing, and people were more concerned about law and order than they were about costs. Now, as states face bigger and bigger budget deficits, governments are looking to cut costs any way they can. In 2001, the criminal justice system accounted for about 7% of state and local government costs, about the same amount spent on health and hospital care.

Costs of new prisons and the rising costs of operating prisons, including additional security personnel and new security systems, have fostered a number of alternative proposals about the way the current judicial system operates. For example, many states are reconsidering mandatory minimum sentencing, relaxing penalties for minor parole violations, and reconsidering putting juveniles into adult prisons.

(Updated July, 2004)