Poll finding: Fewer prisoners, Lower taxes

USC College, July 20, 2011

For the second year in a row, USC (University of Southern California) Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences is partnering with the Los Angeles Times for a public opinion poll about the state of California.

• Poll finds shift in attitudes toward release of prisoners
  

The poll finds Californians would rather release prisoners than pay for more prisons or have their taxes misappropriated, reversing a trend promising to get "tough on crime" that has bankrupted the state without making it any safer. In fact, politicians, the private prison industry, and the prison guard's union have been enriched at staggering taxpayer expense. Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, and Evan Halper, Sacramento Bureau Chief from the Los Angeles Times, discuss how the public feels about what to do about the current prison system. Visit USC Dornsife Web site for more info: dornsife.usc.edu/poll

• VIDEO: USC putting artifacts in students' hands