In the federal enforcement
world, the federal judicial district of New Jersey is an important
component of the New York metropolitan area, often considered
the nation's center for serious crime when it comes to drugs,
financial fraud, and organized crime. So it startled William Kleinknecht
when his study of Justice Department data obtained by TRAC found
that New Jersey ranked near the bottom (77 out of 90 districts)
in terms of the per capita number of prosecutions. And the record
of the DEA and ATF was even worse. On July 11, 1999, after extensive
interviews with embarrassed officials, his article led the Star
Ledger. The article, which pointed out that part of the problem
was a seriously understaffed U.S. Attorney's office, featured
five clear tables.
