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Around a third of Asian adults (34%) also say convicted people do not spend enough time in prison, but their views are not statistically different from those of White and Hispanic adults.Īmong Democrats, similar shares of Black and White adults say prisoners spend too much time behind bars, even as Black and White Democrats express different views on some other survey questions related to criminal justice. Conversely, White adults (36%) are more likely than Hispanic (28%) and Black adults (17%) to believe that convicted people spend too little time behind bars. Black adults (40%) are more likely than White (26%), Asian (26%) and Hispanic adults (25%) to say people convicted of crimes spend too much time in prison. criminal justice system differ by race and ethnicity, as previous Pew Research Center surveys have shown, and a similar pattern appears in views of time spent in prison. 47%) to say people convicted of crimes spend too little time in prison.Īttitudes about many aspects of the U.S. And very conservative Republicans are more likely than Republicans who describe their views as simply conservative (56% vs. 47%) to say convicted people spend too much time in prison. Very liberal Democrats are much more likely than Democrats who describe their views as simply liberal (70% vs. 35%) to say people convicted of crimes spend too little time in prison.ĭemocrats who describe their political views as very liberal and Republicans who describe their views as very conservative stand out even more. Conservative Republicans are more likely than moderate and liberal Republicans (49% vs. 30%) to say convicted people spend too much time in prison. Liberal Democrats are more likely than conservative and moderate Democrats (54% vs. Views differ by ideology within each partisan group.
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Mean time served can be considerably longer than median time served due a relatively small number of released prisoners who served unusually long periods of time behind bars. This analysis describes average time served using medians, not means. Time-served data for Maine and Minnesota combines rape and other sexual assault, while 21 states did not report time served for non-negligent manslaughter. It did not examine time served by those who remained in prison or were ineligible for release, or those sentenced to a year or less. The study looked only at people released from prison in 2018. It also excluded people released from federal prisons. The study did not include Alaska, Idaho, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont or the District of Columbia. The study examined time served among people released from prison in 44 states in 2018, accounting for 97% of all people released from state prisons that year. Here is the question used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey’s methodology.ĭata on the average amount of time that people convicted of crimes serve in prison comes from a 2021 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) study. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. Everyone who took part in the survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The public opinion data in this analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 10,221 adults conducted July 8-18, 2021. It includes a separate analysis of average time served among people released from state prison in 2018. This analysis examines Americans’ attitudes about the amount of time served in prison by people who are convicted of crimes in the United States. Around a third of Democrats and Democratic leaners (35%) and a slightly higher share of Republicans and GOP leaners (39%) say people convicted of crimes spend about the right amount of time in prison.
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The reverse is true among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents: 44% of Republicans say people convicted of crimes spend too little time in prison, while 14% say they spend too much time behind bars. The survey asked about prison time in a general way and did not address penalties for specific crime types.ĭemocrats and Democratic-leaning independents are much more likely to say people convicted of crimes spend too much time in prison than to say they spend too little time behind bars (41% vs. The question was asked as part of a broader survey examining differences in Americans’ political attitudes and values across a range of topics. adults say people convicted of crimes spend too much time in prison, while 32% say they spend too little time and 37% say they spend about the right amount of time, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 10,221 adults conducted in July 2021.