ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M., EST        BJS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1997         202/307-0784

STATE AND FEDERAL PRISONERS FILED 68,235 PETITIONS
IN UNITED STATES COURTS DURING 1996

     WASHINGTON -- The rate at which state and
federal prisoners filed petitions in United States
district courts seeking release from prison or
alleging civil rights violations fell 17 percent
between 1980 and 1996, the Department's Bureau of
Justice Statistics...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST         BJS
MONDAY,  NOVEMBER 29, 1999          202/307-0784 
                
         
PROSECUTORS INVESTIGATED ALMOST 1,000 INDIVIDUALS
AND BUSINESSES SUSPECTED OF CRIMINAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
VIOLATIONS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   Federal prosecutors 
investigated 952 individuals and organizations
for criminal violations of the nation's
environmental laws during 1997, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
announced today.  Fifty-three percent of the
criminal inquiries were for violating wildlife...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST                     BJS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2000                        202/307-0784 
                
        
MORE THAN 42,000 CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINTS 
FILED IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS DURING 1998

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 42,000 complaints
alleging civil rights violations, such as discrimination in
employment, housing, welfare benefits and voting rights were
filed during 1998 in  U.S. district courts, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M.                  BJS
WEDNESDAY MAY 31, 2000                  202/307-0784                 

       

CROSS-AGENCY FEDERAL ARREST DATA PUBLISHED FOR FIRST TIME
ALMOST HALF OF ARRESTS FOR DRUG OR IMMIGRATION OFFENSES

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Approximately 73 percent of the 106,139
federal arrests made during fiscal year 1998 were made by Department
of Justice law enforcement agencies--the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Drug...

FEDERAL DRUG LAW CHANGES LED TO LONGER PRISON SENTENCES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 38,200 people were referred to federal prosecutors for alleged drug offenses during 1999, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. About 84 percent of these suspects were subsequently charged in a U.S. district court.

Of...

NUMBER OF FEDERAL TORT TRIALS FELL BY ALMOST 80 PERCENT FROM 1985 THROUGH 2003

WASHINGTON - The number of tort trials concluded in U.S. district courts declined by nearly 80 percent, from 3,600 trials in 1985 to fewer than 800...

THE NATION'S FEDERAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE CASELOAD GREW SUBSTANTIALLY DURING TEN-YEAR PERIOD

WASHINGTON - The number of suspects and defendants processed in the federal criminal justice system grew substantially during the 10-year period of 1994 to 2003, the Justice Department's Bureau...