 After years of prison overcrowding and nothing but bad news, Illinois is making
strides to improve its criminal-justice system.
In 2015 and 2016, Illinois lawmakers passed bills to remove occupational
licensing barriers that keep ex-offenders unemployed, to keep low-level
offenders out of jail, and to implement other commonsense reforms to reduce the
overuse and cost of Illinois’ criminal-justice system.
And Illinois voters are saying they want more.
A newly released Illinois Policy Institute-commissioned poll shows an
overwhelming, bipartisan appetite for criminal-justice reform. The poll,
conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates in May 2016, shows that, among the 500
Illinois registered voters surveyed, Democrats, Republicans and Independents
agree that Illinois’ approach to criminal justice hasn’t been working.
The poll results reveal Illinoisans support reforms that shorten sentences for
nonviolent offenders, allow ex-offenders to work, reform civil asset forfeiture
and end money bail in Illinois.
Some highlights from the poll report include:
A majority of poll respondents believe Illinois’ criminal-justice system is
unfair
Fifty-six percent of poll respondents do not think Illinois’ criminal-justice
system is fair.
illinois policy criminal justice poll
Most poll respondents think Illinois’ criminal-justice system is not effective
at keeping communities safe
In addition to perceiving the criminal-justice system as unfair, a mere 39
percent of poll respondents believe that Illinois’ current criminal-justice
system is effective at keeping communities safe.
Broad majorities of Democratic, Republican and Independent respondents support
reforms to reduce the number of nonviolent offenders in Illinois prisons
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 Majorities across the political spectrum agree on solutions to
the problems plaguing Illinois’ criminal-justice system.
More than 4 in 5 poll respondents support reducing the number of
nonviolent offenders in prison. This includes 92 percent of
self-identified Democrats, 75 percent of Republicans and 82 percent
of Independents.illinois policy criminal justice poll
Poll respondents see no contradiction between being “tough on
crime” and supporting sensible, cost-effective alternatives to
incarceration such as drug and mental health treatment – 87 percent
of Democrats, 81 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of
Independents agree that a person can maintain a strong anti-crime
position while backing measures to handle certain nonviolent
offenders outside of a prison setting.
Despite respondents’ support for reform and recent legislative
progress, Illinois still has much work to do. Illinois prisons held
44,701 offenders as of June 2016, according to the Illinois
Department of Corrections, in a system designed to hold just 32,000.
The state spent $1.4 billion in prison costs in 2015, nearly $22,000
per offender each year. But for all this spending, 48 percent of
ex-offenders return to Illinois prisons within three years of
release.
Taxpayers aren’t getting a good return on their investment.
But with the right changes, Illinois can put itself on a different
path – one that saves money by using smart, cost-effective programs
to address nonviolent crime, promotes self-sufficiency of
ex-offenders by removing barriers to employment, and improves public
safety by channeling resources to tackle violent crime more
effectively. Illinoisans are saying loudly and clearly they support
these reforms.
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