NCJ Number
139197
Date Published
1989
Length
93 pages
Annotation
Based on a mail survey to registered voters and officials as well as telephone interviews with officials and data collected from felony court case files, this study compares public opinion on corrections with correctional policy and practice in Colorado.
Abstract
Fifty-one percent (1,328) of the mail surveys were completed and returned. The survey included questions that elicited public perception of the crime problem, the criminal justice system, correctional philosophy, opinions on sentencing, and contacts with system officials. The findings suggest that the public affects criminal justice law, policy, and practice through the opinions and activities of a vocal and aggressive small segment of the public, which has much more severe attitudes toward sentencing than the norm of the general public. The attitudes of this criminal justice interest group are closer to practitioners' opinions than those of the general public. Also, interest group members' sentencing recommendations for imprisonment and sentence length are closer to actual sentencing practices, compared to the recommendations of the general public. Interest group members likely to have experienced a household victimization in the last 12 months are also more likely to report contacts with officials. Although most convicted felons are actually sentenced to probation, the public seldom recommended this option, preferring instead sentences to residential community corrections, intensive supervision probation, or jail and probation. Thus, "getting tough" does not mean to the public that more offenders should be sentenced to prison for longer terms, but rather that felons should be sentenced to more restrictive community-based programs rather than to straight probation. 35 tables, 26-item bibliography, and appended survey questionnaire