NCJ Number
207647
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 25 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 159-182
Date Published
2004
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study compared how Blacks and Whites in Mississippi view the quality of justice available to them in State and local courts.
Abstract
The data used in this study were collected by the Social Science Research Laboratory at the University of Mississippi under a contract with the Supreme Court of Mississippi's Committee on Bias in the Courts. The data were collected in phone surveys conducted between August 7 and August 15, 1995. Of the 1,243 randomly selected households contacted, 671 completed the survey; 177 (26 percent) were African-Americans. The survey asked respondents a variety of questions about the judicial system in Mississippi. Four questions were designed to solicit respondents' view about whether the courts treated defendants equally regardless of race. The independent variable of primary interest was race. Both Black and White respondents had similar "lukewarm" assessments of the job being done by the State Supreme Court and local courts, although slightly more Whites than Blacks approved of the job the courts were doing. Blacks' and Whites' similar opinions about the courts' job performance, however, did not carry over into the questions about the courts' record of dispensing equal justice regardless of race. Far more Whites than Blacks believed that the court system treats everyone fairly regardless of skin color or ethnic background. Although harboring a belief that the courts are not "color blind" in their dealings with defendants, the fact that a significant percentage of Blacks in Mississippi still view the courts as performing adequately suggests that they have not lost confidence in the judicial system in their State. 3 tables, 3 figures, and 40 references