Interesting new survey data on various criminal justice reform issues from Charles Koch Institute
The Charles Koch Institute (CKI) … released a poll surveying 1,200 American voters who participated in the 2016 presidential election about their views on criminal justice issues such as civil asset forfeiture, overcriminalization, and mandatory minimum sentencing.
The results, which represent responses from a broad range of Americans — including voters who identify as liberals, moderates, and conservatives — suggest significant support for criminal justice reform. Notably, this support even comes from Trump voters: When asked whether criminal justice reform is a priority for the country, 81 percent of Trump voters described the issue as either “very important” (34 percent) or “somewhat important” (47 percent). Trump voters were also more likely to have experience with the criminal justice system, as 54 percent of them reported knowing someone who is or has been incarcerated.
When asked about civil asset forfeiture, 59 percent of Trump voters either “strongly disagreed” (28 percent) or “disagreed” (31 percent) that police should have the right to seize private assets of a suspect even if that individual is never prosecuted. Furthermore, when asked if judges should have more freedom to assign forms of punishments other than prison (such as civil or community service), 63 percent of Trump voters “strongly agreed” (26 percent) or “agreed” (37 percent).
“There appears to be an appetite among conservatives to get ‘right-on-crime,’” said Vikrant Reddy, a senior research fellow with CKI. “Conservatives have been observing the criminal justice system, and they have opinions on how to make it better. In short, they want reforms that prioritize public safety, respect individual rights, and advance human dignity.”
For any and all would-be criminal justice reform advocates, the detailed particulars of the full poll results are worth checking out. The poll probed all sorts of interesting concepts by asking whether respondents agreed or disagreed with statements like “it’s important to have mandatory minimum sentences” and “possession of drugs should not be met with prison time” and “too many people are in prison for non-violent crimes” and “the current criminal justice system unfairly targets racial minorities.”