Public Opinion toward Legal Sanctions for Crimes of Violence

Those arguing both for and against changes in the legal code often make reference to public sentiment to support their position. While such appeals are certainly in keeping with the importance assigned to public opinion in democratic societies, one rarely sees a concrete demonstration that public opinion has actually been tapped. Understanding public sentiment in the area of legal sanctions is important for several reasons. First, in a democratic society, the criminal law should in some way mirror the attitudes of the general populace, that is, there should be some affinity between societal values and legal actions. As Gibbons states: