My experience is people generally believe those in prison deserve to be in prison. That there are so many in prison because so many are breaking the law. That t

My experience is people generally believe those in prison deserve to be in prison. That there are so many in prison because so many are breaking the law. That the US is a dangerous place and arrest indicates guilt. These people also believe that crime ridden parts are crime ridden because they're full of blacks and once a few black people move into an area they needed to add and change locks on their doors because B&E's were going to go up to fuel their drug problem. That the prison population is majority black makes complete sense to them. Is it possible that you are talking to people that already agree with you, or at lest people younger than say 40ish? Much of the above comes from people I would never choose to associate with, but through marriage and moving to a different part of the US I have been blessed with being able to listen to some absolute bullshit. Then I moved to a larger city, and heard less of it. As pointed out above, one of the easiest ways to get votes for either party is to be tough on crime. One of the worst things you can do when running for office is to appear weak or lenient. These wouldn't be such a great go-to tactic if the population in general thought they had a runaway problem in the prison system.