ABA - 50 percent agree People should believe the justice system to be free of bias and prejudice and should experience it as a system that treats people equally, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, martial status, social status, economic status, mental or physical disability, or limited English proficiency. White kids get treatment.
Black kids get time.
ABA - less than 50 percent agree Focus group participants said that judges, attorneys, and judicial system personnel who are out of touch with the community are likely to treat people in the system unfairly and unequally because they do not understand lives that differ from their own. People want to feel understood. If more judges and attorneys were active in the community, people in the system would perceive the system as being more relevant and attuned to their lives. Participants also said that race and class matter. There is a feeling that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to escape bias in the justice system because bias permeates all levels law enforcement, attorneys, judges, juries, and corrections officials.