Summary of State and Local Justice Initiatives 2000

SURVEYS: Court Personnel; Court Users

Partly as a result of the state planning for the May, 1999 ABA National Conference on Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System, many bars and courts have conducted surveys of court users, court personnel, the community, general public and lawyers on topics ranging from jury reform to attitudes toward crime and criminal justice to key issues shaping the public’s perception of the justice system and racial/gender bias in the courts. The American Bar Association commissioned a national survey to: (1) assess the public's current understanding of and confidence in the justice system; (2) identify the public's sources of information about the justice system; and (3) understand what factors drive public attitudes. The survey, which included 1,000 randomly selected respondents age 18 and older, was conducted by telephone interviews. Respondents were asked to: (1) self rate their perceived knowledge; (2) answer a series of factual questions about the justice system; (3) define their confidence in a variety of institutions and professions; (4) rate 50 attitude statements; (5) identify current and preferred information sources; (6) discuss past experience with the justice system; and (7) provide suggestions for improving the administration of justice. Some of the key findings of this study include the following:

• People strongly believe in the justice system, though they also identify areas that warrant improvement.
• People have confidence in the overall justice system, though the amount of that confidence varies for specific components of the system. Further, that confidence can be influenced over time and by level of knowledge, positive court experience, and personal demographic traits.
• People's knowledge of the justice system is uneven. They recognize some obscure tenets but still lack knowledge about more basic ones.
• Certain attitudes can influence people's confidence in the justice system. There are some confidence drivers that already show quite positive public attitudes. These attitudes should be maintained and strengthened. There are other areas that also influence confidence, but currently show more negative attitudes. These negative attitudes that work against confidence need to be addressed as areas for improvement

Results of the ABA commissioned survey were announced at the February 1999 ABA Symposium on Public Perceptions held in Washington, DC. Results of another survey, conducted by the National Center for State Courts and funded by the Hearst Corporation, were announced at the May 1999 Public Trust Conference.

The New Mexico Administrator of Courts is completing the analysis of the results of a second statewide public opinion poll completed last spring, comparing the results with a similar poll conducted a year ago and with a national poll conducted at the same time.

The California Judicial Council reiterated that the involvement of the community in the process of court planning is a crucial component of the improvement of public trust and confidence in the courts, and they acknowledged and encouraged the regular involvement of planning teams, the use of community forums, focus groups and surveys to provide input to the courts.

Further survey and statistical information is available from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 202/307-0703, David Rottman, Ph.D., Associate Director, National Center for State Courts; 757/253-2000, ABA Media Relations and Public Affairs, 312/988-6140.