The effectiveness of enforcement has seen more and more criminals brought into court to answer for their misdeeds. Federal courts have reported a 115-percent increase in the number of drug cases heard from 1985 to 1986. At the same time, tougher laws and stepped up enforcement efforts at the State level have resulted in large numbers of offenders entering the local criminal justice system. This success in getting criminals off the streets and into prison has resulted in increased prison populations. During the past year, the Federal prison population increased 6 percent to a record high of 44,000. Prisons housing these inmates were designed to handle only 28,000. Similar situations prevail at the State level. Although the Federal Bureau of Prisons has added space for more than 4,000 inmates with space for another 7,000 under construction, more prisons are needed. The combined Federal, State, and local shortfall is more than 84,000 bedspaces, a large jump from the total shortfall of 53,000 bedspaces 2 years ago. In addition, one quarter of Federal judicial districts are experiencing 'serious' detention space problems, another 25 percent are operating under 'critical' conditions, and 16 percent of Federal detainees are being held under 'emergency' conditions. New prisons are being constructed in Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Oregon, and California to respond to overcrowding. While incarcerating criminals is costly, allowing offenders to be free in society is even more costly. According to a study by the National Institute of Justice, one hardcore inmate usually is responsible for committing 187 crimes per year at a cost of $430,000. Imprisoning 1,000 of these inmates would cost $25 million per year.