"Race, Gender, and Providence Courts"

by Darrell West

Director, Taubman Center for Public Policy

Brown University

August, 2000

Executive Summary

Overall Court Performance

Court Fairness and Process

Capitol Police at Entrance

Court Sheriffs

Court Clerks

Foreign Language Interpreters

Court Forms and Fees

Court Schedule

Summary of Excellent/Good Ratings

Question Wording and Responses

In this Brown Policy Report, I investigate racial and gender differences in attitudes towards the courts among people who used the Providence Superior Court, District Court, Family Court, and Workers' Compensation Court between March 9 and 13, 1998. For that week, everyone who passed through these courts was given a written questionnaire asking for views about the court system, fairness, personnel, and procedures.

In addition to handing out the questionnaire to people who visited these Providence courts, the questions were mailed to people who use the court, such as agency attorneys, social workers, members of the Bench/Bar committees, and organizations representing the trial lawyers and criminal defense lawyers. The questions were administered both in English and Spanish in order to cover non-English speakers.

Overall, 1,724 people completed the questionnaire and returned it for tabulation. Seven hundred seventy-one were male, 704 were female, and 249 did not answer the gender question. One thousand two hundred forty-two were white, 142 were non-white (71 African Americans, 59 Hispanics, and 12 Asian Americans), and 340 did not answer the race question. Statistical tests were used to determine the significance of differences between males and females as well as whites and non-whites.

Among the more important results of this research are the following:

1) there were important differences in judgments about overall court performance by race, but not gender. Whereas 57 percent of whites who answered the performance question gave the court excellent or good marks, only 42 percent of non-whites did, a 15 percentage point difference that was statistically significant. For gender, there was not a significant difference between the 57 percent of males and 53 percent of females who thought the court was doing an excellent or good job.

2) the biggest racial difference occurred in views about court fairness. Whereas 64 percent of whites felt the court process was fair, only 41 percent of non-whites felt that way, a difference of 23 percentage points. There was no significant difference in opinion about fairness based on gender.

3) Whites were more likely than non-whites to say the capitol police found at the court entrance were helpful and sensitive, but there was no significant difference in views about the courteousness of capitol police or in the views of men and women about the capitol police.

4) there were no significant differences for race or gender in views about how courteous, helpful, and sensitive were court sheriffs.

5) there were a number of significant differences by race and gender in evaluations of court clerks. Whites were more likely than non-whites to see clerks as courteous, helpful, sensitive, and being knowledgeable about court procedures. Men were more likely than men to find clerks courteous, helpful, and sensitive.

6) court-employed foreign language interpreters were seen as more adequate by men than women, and more available by whites than non-whites.

7) there were no significant differences by race in judgments about court forms and fees, but women were more likely than men to see court filing and copying fees as reasonable.

8) Whites were more likely than non-whites to say the court started promptly and judges issued timely decisions. Men were more likely than women to say the court started promptly and hearings were held promptly.

In order to determine how users felt about the court, we asked, "how would you rate the overall job being done by the court you are visiting today?" Whites were more likely than non-whites to rate court performance positively. Whereas 57 percent of whites viewed the court as excellent or good, only 42 percent of non-whites felt that way (see Table 1). This difference of 15 percentage points was statistically significant.

There was no significant difference in views by gender. Although males were a little more likely to rate the courts excellent or good (57 percent) compared to females (53 percent), this difference was not statistically significant.

The largest differences based on race occurred in regard to beliefs about the fairness of court process. While 64 percent of whites rated fairness as excellent or good, only 41 percent of non-whites felt that way (see Table 2). This difference of 23 percentage points was statistically significant. Whites also were more likely than non-whites to praise the dignity of court process and to feel that court processes were clearly explained. There was no gender gap in views about court fairness and process, as shown in Table 3.

Court users also were asked to rate characteristics of capitol police located at the entrance to the court. As shown in Tables 4 and 5, there were no significant racial differences in views about capitol police courteousness or in gender differences for courteousness, helpfulness, or sensitivity.

However, there was a race gap in impressions about the helpfulness and sensitivity of the capitol police. Eighty-two percent of whites rated the helpfulness of the capitol police as excellent or good, while 77 percent of non-whites felt that way. In terms of sensitivity, 75 percent of whites rated the capitol police as excellent or good, compared to 68 percent of non-whites.

The only category of court personnel for whom there were no significant differences based on race or gender were the court sheriffs. When asked about the courteousness, helpfulness, or sensitivity of sheriffs, whites and non-whites as well as men and women showed similar kinds of evaluations (see Tables 6 and 7).

The category of court personnel showing the most consistent racial and gender differences were court clerks. As shown on Table 8, there were significant differences by race in every category of performance asked (courteousness, helpfulness, sensitivity, knowledge of court procedures, and office hours). For example, 74 percent of whites felt court clerks were courteous, while only 62 percent of non-whites felt that way. And while 75 percent of whites judged clerks to be helpful, only 60 percent of non-whites reported the clerks were helpful. In regard to gender, there were significant differences in three (courteousness, helpfulness, and sensitivity) of the five areas probed (see Table 9).

Foreign language interpreters employed by the court were seen as more available among whites than non-whites, but more adequate by males than females (see Table 10). Forty-four percent of whites rated the availability of interpreters as excellent or good, compared to 26 percent of non-whites. This difference was statistically significant. When asked about the adequacy of foreign language interpreters, men (50 percent) were more likely to give a positive evaluation than women (45 percent).

There were no racial differences in judgements about court forms and fees, but some gender differences, mainly in regard to the reasonableness of court filing and copying fees. Women (48 percent) were more likely to rate the reasonableness of court filing fees as excellent or good, compared to men (36 percent). Women also were more likely to rate the reasonableness of copying fees as excellent or good, compared to men.

There were significant racial differences in views about prompt starts to court sessions. As shown in Table 13, whites (52 percent) were more likely to rate prompt starting as excellent or good, compared to non-whites (39 percent). Whites also were more likely to rate judges' decision as being timely (57 percent) compared to non-whites (40 percent). Furthermore, there was a gender gap in views about prompt hearings, with women being slightly less likely to feel there were prompt hearings than men.

Table 15 combines excellent and good ratings for each demographic group for court performance, fairness, personnel, and process. Overall, the biggest racial gaps occur with the fairness of court process (a 23 percentage point difference) and overall court job performance (15 percentage points between whites and non-whites). In regard to gender, other than in ratings of court fees, the biggest differences occurred in regard to the helpfulness of clerks (76 percent for men and 69 percent for women) and assistance in completing forms (61 percent for men and 54 percent for women).

a) courteousness of capital police at entrance: 33% excellent, 42% good, 13% only fair, 4% poor, 8% don't know, no answer

b) helpfulness of capital police at entrance: 30% excellent, 40% good, 13% only fair, 4% poor, 13% don't know, no answer

c) sensitivity of capital police at entrance: 25% excellent, 38% good, 18% only fair, 5% poor, 14% don't know, no answer

d) courteousness of courtroom sheriffs: 28% excellent, 38% good, 16% only fair, 6% poor, 12% don't know, no answer

e) helpfulness of courtroom sheriffs: 28% excellent, 38% good, 16% only fair, 6% poor, 12% don't know, no answer

f) sensitivity of courtroom sheriffs: 24% excellent, 33% good, 19% only fair, 9% poor, 15% don't know, no answer

g) courteousness of clerks' office staff: 27% excellent, 37% good, 17% only fair, 8% poor, 11% don't know, no answer

h) helpfulness of clerks' office staff: 27% excellent, 36% good, 17% only fair, 7% poor, 13% don't know, no answer

i) sensitivity of clerks' office staff: 24% excellent, 32% good, 20% only fair, 9% poor, 15% don't know, no answer

j) knowledge of court procedures by clerks' office staff: 24% excellent, 39% good, 14% only fair, 5% poor, 18% don't know, no answer

k) adequacy of court-employed, foreign language interpreters: 6% excellent, 15% good, 12% only fair, 11% poor, 56% don't know, no answer

a) understandability of court forms (clear and simple language): 11% excellent, 39% good, 22% only fair, 6% poor, 22% don't know, no answer

b) assistance in completing forms: 8% excellent, 27% good, 17% only fair, 8% poor, 40% don't know, no answer

c) reasonableness of court filing fees: 5% excellent, 20% good, 19% only fair, 14% poor, 42% don't know, no answer

d) reasonableness of copying fees: 6% excellent, 22% good, 18% only fair, 10% poor, 44% don't know, no answer

e) reliability of court schedule (case heard on date scheduled): 8% excellent, 29% good, 22% only fair, 16% poor, 25% don't know, no answer

f) prompt start for court sessions: 11% excellent, 32% good, 24% only fair, 17% poor, 17% don't know, no answer

g) prompt hearing of your case (no waiting around): 6% excellent, 21% good, 25% only fair, 24% poor, 24% don't know, no answer

h) prompt resolution/disposition of your case: 6% excellent, 22% good, 25% only fair, 19% poor, 28% don't know, no answer

i) timeliness of judges' decisions: 10% excellent, 31% good, 23% only fair, 11% poor, 25% don't know, no answer

j) court process clearly explained by judge/clerk): 16% excellent, 35% good, 20% only fair, 7% poor, 22% don't know, no answer

k) dignity of court process: 16% excellent, 36% good, 22% only fair, 9% poor, 17% don't know, no answer

l) fairness of court process: 14% excellent, 35% good, 22% only fair, 10% poor, 19% don't know, no answer

m) help for non-English speakers: 4% excellent, 13% good, 12% only fair, 13% poor, 58% don't know, no answer

n) clerks' office hours of service: 10% excellent, 32% good, 18% only fair, 8% poor, 32% don't know, no answer