ABSTRACT
Over the past fifteen years or so, two profound shifts in US public opinion about crime and criminal justice have occurred. The first led to a host of ‘get tough’ or ‘punitive’ measures such as mandatory minimum sentencing, ‘three-strikes’ laws, repressive drug laws and community notification for sex offenders. Recently, however, public support for more progressive ideas seems to be on the rise, as evidenced by referenda in various states that decriminalise marijuana or require treatment instead of incarceration for low-level drug offenders who are also addicts. As well, a number of states are reconsidering their mandatory minimum sentencing laws. The report of a national public opinion survey (Hart Research Associates, 2002) noted that: ’Public opinion has shifted substantially on the question of whether to take a pre-emptive approach to crime reduction by addressing the underlying causes, or whether to focus on deterrence through stricter sentencing’ (p. 13).
