Justice system

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), administered by BJA and authorized under Public Law 109-162 (see page 136), is the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. The JAG Program allows states and units of local government, including tribes, to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own state and local...

BJA seeks applications for a Technical Assistance Provider (TA Provider) to assist in the establishment and facilitation of national-level technical assistance to approximately 20 to 25 demonstration sites in furtherance of the Sentinel Events Initiative (SEI). SEI is an effort led by the National Institute of Justice, the US Department of Justice's research, development, and evaluation agency to explore whether an all-stakeholder, forward-looking, non-blaming review...

One pressing challenge facing our criminal justice system today is the recruitment and retention of qualified prosecutors and public defenders, who serve everyday to ensure that our communities are protected, the rule of law is upheld, and the rights of the citizenry are safeguarded. Both prosecutor and public defender offices consistently find it difficult to attract and retain talented attorneys. Driven by educational debt, attorneys...

One pressing challenge facing our criminal justice system today is the recruitment and retention of qualified prosecutors and public defenders, who serve everyday to ensure that our communities are protected, the rule of law is upheld, and the rights of the citizenry are safeguarded. Both prosecutor and public defender offices consistently find it difficult to attract and retain talented attorneys. Driven by educational debt, attorneys...

The Anti-Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement Task Forces Program, administered by BJA, is designed to provide national TTA resources that are critical to improving the capacity of state, local and tribal criminal justice systems to develop and implement anti-human trafficking task forces using the Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM). The ECM task forces, jointly funded by BJA and the Office for Victims...

One of BJA's guiding principles is to promote a fair criminal justice system. For the past two decades, the American justice system has been confronted with a steady stream of post-conviction exonerations, and the issue of wrongful conviction has emerged as a critical area for examination. BJA is committed to assisting the state and local law enforcement entities in adopting evidence-based practices and assessing the...

The purpose of this grant program is to provide funding to test untested sexual assault kits, prevent sexual assaults, and improve the criminal justice system's response to sexual assaults.

The Intellectual Property Enforcement Program (IPEP), administered by BJA, is designed to provide national support and improve the capacity of state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems to address IP criminal enforcement, including prosecution, prevention, training, and technical assistance.

Approximately 2.2 million people were incarcerated in federal, state, and local prisons and jails in 2014, a rate of 1 out of every 110 adults. Many prison populations remain near all-time high levels and face crowding or resource challenges, and state spending on corrections has remained high. Over the last 25 years, state corrections expenditures have increased exponentially from $12 billion in 1988 to more...