Rhode Island Racial and Ethnic Minorities Disparities Project

The purpose of this report was to control for racial and gender differences in attitudes towards the courts with regards to the populations of people that used the Providence Superior Court, District Court, Family Court, and Workers' Compensation Court between March 9 and 13, 1998. Anyone who passed through the courts during the week was given a questionnaire to fill out asking about perceptions about the court system, fairness, personnel, and procedures. A total of 1, 724 people completed the questionnaire. Of those that did record their gender, approximately 70 more males than females filled out the questionnaire. When taking race into consideration, minorities accounted for 142 of the respondents, 340 individuals didn't provide race, and the rest of the respondents were White . The report opens with an executive summary and then the findings are divided into different categories. Some of these areas include overall court performance, court fairness and process, foreign language interpreters, and summary of excellent/ good ratings. All throughout the report are tables that display the findings in visual terms.

Major Findings

When controlling for factors such as race and gender, race appeared to play a more crucial role than gender. There were significant differences in judgments about overall court performance by race, 57 percent of Whites gave the court excellent or good remarks opposed to 42 percent of non-Whites. In terms of court fairness, 64 percent of whites felt the court process was fair compared to only 41 percent of non-whites. Whites were also more likely than non-Whites to feel that capitol police found at the court entrances were more helpful. Whites also perceived court clerks as more helpful, felt that court started promptly, and judges gave timely decision at a rate higher than minorities. Interestingly, Whites felt that foreign language interpreters were more accessible then did non-White respondents, 44 percent verses 26 percent. In terms of gender differences, men had a slightly higher rate of positive responses in terms of believing that the court was doing an excellent or good job. Men were also more likely to find clerks more helpful than women were. Foreign-language interpreters were seen as more sufficient by men than women. Moreover, men were more likely than women to say that court started promptly and hearings were held without delay.

Unaddressed Issues or concerns

As this report demonstrates, there are significant differences in perceptions of courts by race. While this report does a good job of displaying how minority individuals feel more uneasy and discriminated in court settings than White individuals, it is important to consider the extent to which their beliefs are based in fact. As Coker agues in her article "Foreword: Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustices In the Criminal Justice System", there is indeed many injustices of the court system. The question is not, do minorities feel more threatened in court situations than whites? Rather, the question is why? As a result, while this report contains useful information it is just a starting place. It would also be of interest if a survey was conducted that was geared towards obtaining the attitudes by the court personnel pertaining to the same subject.

Reference List

Coker , Donna . "Foreword: Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustices In the Criminal Justice System." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 93.4 (2003):

827-879

How to Access Report
www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/
polreports/CTREP800