New Polling Demonstrates Ongoing Support for Criminal Justice Reform
Turning the Tide on Mass Incarceration
Over the last decade, policymakers and voters in red, blue, and purple jurisdictions have advanced criminal justice reforms that safely reduced prison and jail populations, expanding freedom and opportunities to tens of millions of Americans. Our collective awareness of the costs of mass incarceration has fundamentally shifted–and our sustained efforts to turn the tide have yielded meaningful results.
Criminal Justice Reform Remains a Priority for Black Voters
The structural inequalities embedded in our society causes Black communities to bear a disproportionate share of the harms of both incarceration and of crime.
New public opinion research shows that Black voters’ strong support for bold criminal justice reform and reducing incarceration has sustained through sensationalized "crime wave" reporting and campaigning. Black voters understand that safety and justice are not in conflict and expect their elected officials and candidates to deliver both.
Our National Work on Criminal Justice Reform
Now more than ever we must remind ourselves that the criminal legal reform movement is strong, the number of people in prisons and jails is historically low, and the data about the compatibility of safer, stronger communities and less incarceration is on our side.
New Polling Demonstrates Ongoing Support for Criminal Justice Reform
Recent polling shows strong support for criminal justice reform among the American public, as well as for candidates who advocate for policies aimed at reducing incarceration rates.
Advancing Public Safety and Moving Justice Forward
Americans deserve real solutions to the rise in gun violence, not a return to the failed policies that brought us mass incarceration. Evidence and experience tells us we can–and we must–have more safety and more justice together.
Turning the Tide on Mass Incarceration
After nearly forty years of uninterrupted prison population growth, our collective awareness of the costs of mass incarceration has fundamentally shifted–and our sustained efforts to turn the tide have yielded meaningful results.
Black Voters Want More Safety and More Justice
Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by both mass incarceration and gun violence, which is why it’s critical their voice be uplifted in this moment. New polling shows that Black voters overwhelmingly support reforms that reduce incarceration and investments that address the root causes of violence.
By the Numbers
Americans want Criminal Justice Reform
80% of likely voters
8 in 10 likely voters support criminal justice reform, including 66% of Republicans, 82% of independents, and 87% of Democrats
More than 8 in 10 Black voters
More than 8 in 10 Black voters believe it is important to reduce the jail and prison population
70% less likely
People in 2021 were 70% less likely to be a victim of a violent crime than in 1993.
21% fewer people incarcerated
Since their peak, reforms to our criminal justice system have meant 21 percent fewer people incarcerated
45 U.S. states
A majority of states have experienced reductions in both crime and imprisonment – and crime fell faster in states that reduced imprisonment than in states that increased imprisonment.
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Protecting Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Crime, Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform
