This paper examines legislative attitudes toward policies to reduce prison crowding in a state (Indiana) that has a serious prison overcrowding problem. Legislative attitudes were studied through mail surveys of all members of the Indiana General Assembly. A high level of legislative support for the expansion of community corrections and prison construction was found. On the other hand, a return to shorter sentences received little support among the lawmakers. A rudimentary regression analysis of the relationship between legislative characteristics and support for the various strategies to control prison crowding revealed that a variable measuring criminal justice ideology was most strongly associated with legislative attitudes toward prison policy. These findings are also discussed within the present research.
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