Federal Prosecutors Without Paper Clips

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It’s hard to be tough on crime when you’re short on office supplies.

Here’s a head shaker of a story: Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and John Conyers (D-MI) sent a letter (pdf) today to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the severe budget shortages in U.S. Attorney offices across the country.

Their survey of a dozen major U.S. Attorney offices show that staffing shortages are widespread, such as in Los Angeles, where 40 of the 190 assistant U.S. Attorney positions in California’s Central District are vacant.

A number of offices have started pinching pennies to compensate for the tight budget. Two of the offices have started charging defendants for copies of documents. Perhaps most pathetic is one U.S. Attorney’s office, where an electronic lock has been placed on the supply closet, requiring prosecutors to fill out requisition forms “in order to get supplies like paper clips.”

The shortages have led to a decrease in prosecutions on lesser felonies, they say, “such as fraud against the government.” But here’s the mystery: the Justice Department’s budget for the U.S. Attorney offices has actually increased over the past several years, leading to the question of where the money has gone. Waxman and Conyers have asked Attorney General Gonzales for more information to answer it.

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