New poll indicates strong public support for various provisions of FIRST STEP ACT

I noted in this prior post a poll commissioned by a prosecutor group showing significant opposition to proposals to reduce sentences for serious drug traffickers.  But, as detailed in this Reason piece headlined "Poll Shows Wide Support For Criminal Justice Reform Bill In Congress: Prosecutor groups and criminal justice reform advocates are putting out dueling polls on a major bill in Congress," this week brings a new poll with very different results:

A new survey shows wide support among registered voters for provisions in a major criminal justice bill in Congress, in sharp contrast to a survey promoted by a group of federal prosecutors released last week showing opposition to the bill.  According to a national survey of 1,234 registered voters conducted online between Oct. 11-12, 82 percent of respondents approved of the specific provisions in the FIRST STEP Act, a prison reform bill that passed the House by a wide bipartisan margin this May.

Additionally, 82 percent supported allowing non-violent offenders to finish their sentences in home confinement in order to ease their integration back into society, and 76 percent of respondents agreed with the FIRST STEP Act's "good behavior" provision that would expand the number of days non-violent offenders can have removed from their sentence.  The survey was conducted by In Pursuit Of, LLC, a communications firm connected with the Koch network of conservative advocacy groups, for the organization Freedom Partners....

The Foundation for Safeguarding Justice, a group aligned with the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (NAAUSA), which represents federal prosecutors, released its own poll last week showing what it says is widespread opposition to reducing federal penalties for drug traffickers....

"We're looking at what this group and what they're putting out and just shaking our heads," says Mark Holden, the chairman of Freedom Partners and general counsel of Koch Industries. "We're not sure how they're coming up with their numbers.  The home confinement stuff they're polling on, our polling shows a completely different outcome.  There's immense support for all the provisions in the bill, and anyone who says otherwise is obviously motivated by an agenda."

The NAAUSA has consistently opposed efforts to reduce federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws, expand judges' discretion, or in any way reduce the leverage federal prosecutors enjoy over defendants — a result of which is that 97 percent of federal prosecutions end in plea deals.

Of course, the language of the surveys might be the culprit here. The same respondent might, on different days and with no internal contradiction, say when asked that fentanyl dealers deserve harsher sentences and that nonviolent offenders should have better preparation and more opportunities to reintegrate back into society.

Other supporters of the FIRST STEP Act also say they've seen consistent public support for the measures in the bill.  "Virtually every poll we've seen shows support for prison reform and sentencing reform," says Jason Pye, vice president of legislative affairs at FreedomWorks, a grassroots conservative advocacy group. "After all, people are seeing the successes of state level efforts."