Mississippi voters want to reduce number of people in jails and prisons, poll shows

Jimmie E. Gates | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Show Caption Hide Caption Mississippi Prison Industries has lost $3.2M in two years The nonprofit aimed at giving inmates job skills has lost $3.2 million over the past two years, and a watchdog report pointed to a lack of receipts.

Four out of five Mississippi registered voters believe it is important to reduce the number of people who are incarcerated, and only 3 percent want to spend additional tax dollars on jails and prisons, a poll released this week shows.

The key finding is that Mississippi voters believe the criminal justice system is not working and are overwhelmingly in favor of reducing the state's jail and prison populations," said Zoe Towns, criminal justice reforms director for FWD.us, a bipartisan national advocacy group for criminal justice reform.

Towns formerly worked for the Pew Charitable Trusts, which helped Mississippi pass a criminal justice reform bill in 2014.

Highlights of poll include:

More than two-thirds of Mississippi voters believe the state's criminal justice system needs significant improvements.

By a margin of 15 to 1, voters prefer that additional funding available to help reduce crime be spent on schools and K-12 education rather than jails and prisons.

Nearly 8 out of 10 voters believe it is important to reduce the number of people in jail or prison.

By a 2-to-1 margin, voters believe being incarcerated makes people more likely to commit crime in the future.

Contrary to popular belief, crime victims are just as likely as other voters to support criminal justice reform, including 74 percent who believe it is important to reduce the number of people in jail or prison.

77 percent support increased funding for public defenders and ensuring that people accused of crimes have proper legal representation.

69 percent support removing convictions from an eligible person's record after they have completed their sentence, including probation and parole, and remain crime-free for a period of time.

67 percent support eliminating jail sentences for certain misdemeanor crimes such as driving with a suspended license or trespassing.

61 percent support punishing people convicted of drug possession with a misdemeanor rather than a felony sentence.

Support for criminal justice reform cuts across political party affiliations, with six out of 10 Democrats, independents and Republicans supporting the proposals.

Mississippi has the third-highest incarceration rate in the country. It had the second-highest rate in 2014, when the Legislature passed sweeping criminal justice reforms with widespread, bipartisan support.

The reforms were the product of a bipartisan task force of judges, lawmakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, county officials, drug court and corrections officials and others. The reforms were aimed at reducing Mississippi’s ballooning prison population and costs, reducing recidivism and standardizing sentencing and parole practices.

The statewide survey of 800 voters was conducted in August by Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of FWD.us.

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