Public Policy Center, University of Nebraska
Date of this Version
1999
Abstract
The survey covered four broad areas: access to the courts, timeliness of court decisions, fairness of judicial decision-making, independence and responsiveness of the courts to the public and to changing conditions in society.
The questions came at the issues from many angles, but when all the figures were totaled and all the comments considered, the courts came out just okay on average.
This conclusion is a mix of high, medium and low marks across different categories. Sometimes there was broad consensus and other times views differed widely by race, ethnic group, income and other factors.
Comments
Presented at The National Conference on Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System, May 14, 1999, Washington, DC