Is the Public Committed to the Imprisonment of Convicted Felons? Citizen Preferences for Reducing Prison Crowding

Abstract

Some social scientists argue that focused and systematic surveys of public opinion can be of great value to public policy makers. In this paper we illustrate how a public survey might be useful to assist policy makers focusing on the problem of prison crowding. We found that respondents were receptive to two of three alternatives we suggested for reducing crowding in prisons. A state-wide citizen survey found that most respondents (75%) favoredusing community based corrections or shorter sentences (56%) for "non-dangerous" offenders to help reduce prison crowding. Contrary to what some politicians assume, it is clear that the general public is quite "practical" when it comes to dealing with prison crowding and the punishment of many of the minor offenders.