By C1 Staff
MADISON, Wis. — A recent poll put out by a Wisconsin university shows lack of belief in the DOC’s rehabilitation efforts, even as recidivism rates drop.
The Sheboygan Press reports that 804 registered voters responded to a poll put out by the Marquette University Law School, with only 3.6 percent saying the DOC was doing an excellent job and 18 percent saying they were doing a good job.
A little more than 41 percent said the DOC was doing a fair job, and another 31 percent said the state was doing a poor job.
Recidivism rates in Wisconsin have generally been dropping over the last 20 years.
The information could provide more fuel for prison reform advocates. One organization, WISDOM, is currently pressuring the DOC through a high-profile campaign to release more inmates on parole, release aging inmates, alleviate overcrowding and end solitary confinement.
It’s unlikely that those who responded to the poll are familiar with rehabilitation efforts put on through the DOC, one advocate admitted, but still said that the poll is reflective of a general sense that the system is “not working the way they were promised it would.”
Marquette law professor Michael O’Hear wrote the poll questions and plans to cross-reference the responses with answers to another question asking if the respondent or an immediate family member has ever been charged with a crime. He hopes to identify a pool of people with more experience with the criminal justice system.