Figure 1 Confidence in the Legal System, by Race and Ethnicity Question: How confiden are you that...7.96) Agreat deal/A fair amount Police enforcing officers in your community will do a good jjjbb Police officers in your community will not use excessive Courts inyour community will treat Hispanics fairly
At a time when Latinos are interacting more than ever with police, courts and prisons, their confidence in the U.S. criminal justice system is closer to the low levels expressed by blacks than to the high levels expressed by whites, according to a pair of nationwide surveys by the Pew Research Center.
Six-in-ten (61%) Hispanics say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence that the police in their local communities will do a good job enforcing the law, compared with 78% of whites and 55% of blacks. Just under half (46%) of Hispanics say they have confidence that police officers will not use excessive force on suspects, compared with 73% of whites and 38% of blacks. Similarly, just under half of Hispanics say they are confident that police officers will treat Hispanics fairly (45%) and that courts will treat Hispanics fairly (49%). In comparison, 74% of whites and 37% of blacks say they have confidence that the police will treat blacks and whites equally (Pew Social & Demographic Trends, 2007).
Figure 1  | Confidence in the Legal System,  | by Race and Ethnicity  | Question: How confiden are you that...7.96)  | Agreat deal/A fair amount  | Just some/Very little  | Police enforcing officers in your community will do a good jjjbb  | enforcing the law  | Whites  | 78  | 20  | Hispanics  | 36  | 61  | Blacks  | 55  | 37  | Police officers in your community will not use excessive  | force on suspects  | Whites  | 21  | 73  | Hispanics  | 46  | 47  | Blacks  | 38  | 48  | Courts inyour community will treat Hispanics fairly  | Hispanics  | 49  | 44  | Note: Responses of Don't know" and Refused" not shown, Whites  | include only non-Hispanic whites Blacks include only non -Hispanic  | blacks  | Source: Hispanic results from Pew Hispanic Center 2008 National Survey  | of Latinos; white and black results from Pew Social & Demog raphic  | Thanks Rlacks See Growing Values Gap Batwean Poor and Middle Clase:  | Optimism about Black Progress Declines, November 2007 