Georgians favor parole for most inmates, provided that they have shown good behavior and do not present a threat to the general public upon release, according to the latest Peach State Poll.
A majority of Georgians (54 percent) do not believe that people convicted of crimes should serve the entirety of their sentence. A similar majority (57 percent) believe that the parole system helps restore prisoners to a useful place in society. Eighty percent of the public believes that parole should be granted to inmates who have demonstrated that they have changed their ways.
Conversely, Georgians generally disagree with the idea of using parole as a means to ease the costs of housing inmates (54 percent) or to help relieve overcrowding in state prisons (64 percent).
The Peach State Poll is a quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.