Introduction: The Failure of the Criminal Justice System

• In 1965, the justice system cost taxpayers $4.6 billion, about six-tenths of 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
• By 1993 the cost had grown to about $100 billion, 1.57 percent of GDP.
• The number of justice system employees grew from 600,000 in 1965 to nearly 2 million in 1993.1 Despite these increases in spending and personnel, the number of serious crimes reported to the police is near an all-time high [see Figure I] and the number of violent crimes reported to the police is at an all-time high [see Figure II].2 The more resources government applies to the war on crime, the less effective they seem to be.

  In light of this government failure, is it possible that the private sector could be more successful? Let’s take a look.

  The more resources government applies to the war on crime, the less effective they seem to be.

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