Measuring Public Perceptions of Appropriate Prison Sentences, Executive Summary

摘要

This study tested several new methodologies designed to elicit meaningful public input on criminal justice policy issues such as the appropriate sentence for convicted offenders, the parole decision, allocation of government funds towards crime prevention programs, and the public's willingness to pay to reduce crime. Based on a nationally representative survey of 1300 U.S. adults, we found that the public largely concurs with current sentencing decisions about incarceration and sentence length--with the exception of certain crimes--particularly drug offenses (which the public believes are dealt with too harshly) and certain white collar crimes (which the public believes are not dealt with harshly enough). We found strong support for spending more money than currently to reduce crime below current levels. However, much of that support is for increased prevention programs targeted at high-risk youth, more police on the street, and for drug treatment programs for nonviolent offenders--rather than money for more prisons. The typical household would be willing to pay between $75 and $150 per year for crime prevention programs that reduced crimes by 10% in their communities. In the aggregate, these amounts imply a willingness to pay to reduce crime of about $23,000 per burglary, $60,000 per serious assault, $213,000 per armed robbery, $225,000 per rape and sexual assault, and $9.1 million per murder.