Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jul 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Section: National Briefing
Author: Fox Butterfield

CHANGE OF HEART ON CRIMINALS

A poll released by the American Civil Liberties Union has found that 
Americans are softening their views about how to treat criminals. The poll 
found that a majority of Americans believed that it was possible to 
rehabilitate nonviolent offenders and that prisons were failing to prepare 
inmates for their return to society. The poll also found that 61 percent of 
Americans opposed mandatory sentences for nonviolent crimes and that 75 
percent favored treatment and probation for nonviolent drug use. The 
telephone poll, conducted in January, surveyed 2000 people, with a margin 
of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Fox Butterfield (NYT)
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