Project for Opportunity and Safety

WASHINGTON, DC –The Project for Opportunity and Safety recently surveyed self-identified Republican voters in South Carolina and found that there is strong support for the criminal justice reform legislation currently pending in Congress. After learning more about the many benefits of the criminal justice legislation, 77 percent of respondents said they were more likely to support a member of Congress who voted in support of the legislation.  These new survey results also come as prosecutors and conservative leaders across the country have been urging Congress to act on this important issue.

“Passing comprehensive criminal justice reform is not only smart policy, it also makes political sense. The survey results demonstrate what we have known all along, there is strong support from Republican voters for reforming our broken criminal justice system,” said Brian Walsh, spokesman for The Project for Opportunity & Safety.

“Congress needs to act soon to pass bipartisan criminal justice reform which will save taxpayers millions, give judges the ability to hand out sentences that match the crime and make our communities safer by better preparing prisoners to safely reenter their local communities.”

Two-Third Of Voters Surveyed In A Recent Battleground Poll Of 10 States Found That Voters Support Sentencing Reform. “Voters in battleground states support the goals of sentencing reform, according to a poll circulated by proponents of the legislation that they hope will encourage Republican lawmakers to vote for the deal. About two-thirds of the 6,000 voters surveyed across 10 states agreed with three key planks that sentencing reform advocates make when pitching the legislation.” (Joel Gehrke, “Activist Poll: Battleground Voters Back Sentencing Reform,” Washington Examiner, 9/14/16)

• “Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they agreed or somewhat agreed with the idea that ‘the main goal’ of prison sentences should be ‘rehabilitating criminals to become productive, law-abiding citizens.’”
• “Sixty-five percent of respondents agreed that the prison system needs to make sure that when a prisoner is released, ‘they are less likely to commit another crime.’”

Steve Hawkins, Coalition for Public Safety: “Justice Reform Will Be A Winning Issue In The Fall.” “‘Every candidate for office should be paying attention to these significant findings. Voters want action and they plan to take this issue with them to the voting booth. Justice reform will be a winning issue in the fall,’ said Steve Hawkins, president of the Coalition for Public Safety, which commissioned the poll.” (Joel Gehrke, “Activist Poll: Battleground Voters Back Sentencing Reform,” Washington Examiner, 9/14/16)