U.S. AG has urged federal prosecutors to get ‘smart on crime’
By Jerry Mitchell
The Clarion-Ledger
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The number of federal criminal charges has fallen over the past decade nationally, but the rate of decline in south Mississippi is more than twice that of the nation.
According to Justice Department reports, the Southern District of Mississippi filed criminal charges against 597 people in 2004. By 2014, that number had fallen to 429, down 28 percent.
Across the nation, federal criminal charges were brought in 2004 against 83,984 people. A decade later, that number had fallen to 74,379, an 11 percent decline.
In 2013, then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged federal prosecutors to get “smart on crime,” saying current incarceration rates could no longer be sustained. The U.S. spends more than $80 billion a year on federal prisons, which are 30 percent overcapacity and until recently had grown in population every year since 1980.
“Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for no truly good law enforcement reason,” he said in announcing the initiative.
U.S. Attorney Greg Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi said proof the Smart on Crime Initiative is working could be seen in the number of people charged with crimes increasing from 389 in 2013 to 429 last year.
He said the initiative has allowed his office to focus on the most serious cases, protecting Americans from national security threats, violent crime and financial fraud.
It has also enabled his office to protect “the most vulnerable members of society,” he said.
The Southern District has focused on fighting narcotics trafficking, violent crime, civil rights violations, public corruption, financial crimes and human trafficking as well as addressing crimes involving Indian Country, he said.
“Focusing on the most significant cases necessarily means that our limited resources may result in fewer cases,” he said.
For many years, at least $10,000 in fraud had to be involved before the Southern District prosecuted a case. Now that figure is $100,000.
Davis said the amount of the loss is but one of many factors in determining whether a case is prosecuted.
Such a policy could be “difficult to administer fairly,” however, said former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott of Jackson.
“It can be difficult for sure to determine what the extent of the loss from a fraud is in many cases, and that can often depend on how you define loss,” Pigott said.
In reality, he said, there might be “100 other victims.”
Another former federal prosecutor says priorities such as these are needed.
“The world has changed, and the roles of U.S. attorney offices have expanded and thus the demand for the resources is greater,” said former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones of Birmingham. “Many offices have thresholds.”
Offices in New York and Los Angeles probably have thresholds higher than $10,000, too, he said. “Usually, they are only guidelines and not hard and fast rules, giving everyone flexibility.”
In 2011, 96 people were prosecuted for fraud in the Southern District, according to numbers collected by the U.S. District Courts. By 2013, (the latest fiscal year available) that number had fallen to 61.
Some fraud cases involving smaller amounts, such as food stamp fraud, are no longer being pursued.
Over the past three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has disqualified 35 Mississippi stores from carrying food stamps because of fraud allegations. Many of those stores have been fined.
“Fraud is not tolerated, and the USDA will continue to be aggressive in rooting out fraud, waste and abuse, and holding accountable bad actors who violate program rules,” said spokesman Aaron Wiley.
Protecting such an investment ensures “the program is targeted toward those who need it most,” he said.
While narcotics trafficking remains a top priority for the Southern District, the Justice Department has pushed to reduce federal prosecutions involving drug offenses.
Nationally, federal prosecutions for drug offenses have dropped to some of the lowest levels since the Reagan administration, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which collects U.S. District Court data.
In Mississippi, charges were brought in 219 drug cases in the Southern District in 2004, according to U.S. District Court data. That number dropped to 106 this past year.
A U.S. attorney’s office memo obtained by The Clarion-Ledger establishes thresholds for drug prosecutions in the Southern District. According to the memo, only cases involving more than a ton (2,205 pounds) of marijuana and more than 4.5 pounds of cocaine powder can be prosecuted.
Former longtime District Attorney James Powell said these limits seem “awfully high.”
Other than catching a drug “mule” transporting huge amounts of drugs on the interstate, “you’re never going to find that,” he said.
The number of people prosecuted in firearms cases — often felons carrying firearms — has also declined in the Southern District.
In 2005, that number was 106. By 2013, that number had fallen to 30.
In 2013, the state of Mississippi changed the maximum penalty for felons carrying firearms from three to 10 years, enabling state prosecutors to handle such cases, rather than looking to federal courts. The state has seen 11 sentencings so far under the revised law.
Davis said he makes it his job to cooperate with officials across the state to make sure the public is protected. “We work with state and local law enforcement to address the public safety issues in the Southern District of Mississippi.”
