Urbanism and criminal crime control ideology are important correlates to state legislators' attitudes and positions on criminal justice policy issues. Three characteristics of New York state lawmakers—party affiliation, urbanism and crime control ideology—were consistently related to legislators' positions on capital punishment, handgun control, and expansion of the parole system. These findings are based on a survey of members of the New York State legislature conducted in 1991, and affirm the conclusion of a similar survey conducted in 1985.
We argue that better understanding of the relationship between ideology and criminal justice policy has important and practical benefits, including improved public policy development, more effective monitoring of criminal justice legislation in legislatures, and fuller communication between lawmakers and their constituents. In addition, knowledge of the attributes of lawmakers that are related to crime control ideology may foreshadow changes in crime control policy over time.
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