The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction in a few selected enforcement areas such as espionage and violation of the national tax laws. But more and more, federal, state and local agencies have a shared jurisdiction. Drug violators, bank robbers, sex offenders and car jackers, for example, are now prosecuted by all levels of government.
The growing role of the federal government in general enforcement activities -- and the relative decline in the power of state and local authorities -- means that the actions of federal investigators and federal prosecutors has become a subject of direct concern to all citizens.
The operations of the federal system of criminal justice is roughly similar to its counterparts at the local level. Federal agents investigate suspected crimes. Federal agents refer some of these matters to U.S. Attorneys or the Justice Department for prosecution. The prosecutors then select the matters they believe warrant further action. Often with the approval of a grand jury, the prosecutors bring specific criminal charges against the designated targets. The cases then go to court where most of them are resolved by negotiation rather than a formal trial.
Although there are large and hard-to-explain variations in how federal laws are enforced in different parts of the country, and specific subjects of primary interest have shifted over time, the general pattern has been fairly consistent. In 1996, federal agents referred somewhat more than 125,000 matters for prosecution. In that same year, prosecutors brought criminal charges against about 70,500 individuals, won convictions against slightly more than 48,000 of them and sent close to 34,000 to prison.
The federal government has become a major force in the criminal enforcement of the law in the United States. In one recent year, for example, scores of agencies including the FBI, the IRS, the EPA and the bank regulating organizations sent U.S. Attorneys across the land more than 125,000 matters they felt should be prosecuted.