Providence City Survey, August 1998 (Published 2000)

January 1, 1998

BROWN UNIVERSITY SURVEY OF PROVIDENCE COURT USERS

BROWN POLICY REPORT
"Race, Gender, and Providence Courts"

by Darrell West
Director, Taubman Center for Public Policy
Brown University
August, 2000

Table of Contents

•     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

Executive Summary

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.

Overall Court Performance

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.

Table 1: Overall Court Job Performance by Race and Gender

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Race
White	9	48	32	11	Yes
Non-White	6	36	44	14
Sex
Male	9	48	31	13	No
Female	8	45	34	12

Court Fairness and Process

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.

Table 2: Evaluations of Court Fairness and Process by Race

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Fairness of Court Process
White	19	45	26	10	Yes
Non-White	10	31	39	20
Dignity of Court Process
White	20	45	25	10	Yes
Non-White	11	33	40	17
Court Process Clearly Explained
White	21	46	24	8	Yes
Non-White	15	34	38	14

Table 3: Evaluations of Court Fairness and Process by Gender

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Fairness of Court Process
Male	18	45	26	11	No
Female	16	43	28	13
Dignity of Court Process
Male	20	45	26	10	No
Female	18	42	28	11
Court Process Clearly Explained
Male	20	45	25	10	No
Female	22	45	25	8

Capitol Police at Entrance

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.

Table 4: Evaluation of Capitol Police at Entrance by Race

Table 4 Evaluation of Capitol Police at Entrance by Race
	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Courteousness
White	37	47	13	3	No
Non-White	30	47	14	8
Helpfulness
White	36	46	14	4	Yes
Non-White	28	49	16	6
Sensitivity
White	30	45	20	6	Yes
Non-White	22	46	22	9

Table 5: Evaluations of Capitol Police at Entrance by Gender

Table 5 Evaluations of Capitol Police at Entrance by Gender
	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Courteousness
Male	35	46	15	4	No
Female	36	47	13	4
Helpfulness
Male	33	47	15	4	No
Female	35	47	14	3
Sensitivity
Male	27	45	21	7	No
Female	29	45	20	6

Court Sheriffs

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).

Table 6: Evaluations of Court Sheriffs by Race

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Courteousness
White	32	43	18	6	No
Non-White	30	40	16	14
Helpfulness
White	32	43	19	6	No
Non-White	29	43	14	15
Sensitivity
White	28	40	23	9	No
Non-White	26	38	16	21

Table 7: Evaluations of Court Sheriffs by Gender

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Courteousness
Male	33	42	18	7	No
Female	30	44	18	8
Helpfulness
Male	32	43	18	7	No
Female	30	43	19	7
Sensitivity
Male	28	39	22	11	No
Female	27	39	24	10

Court Clerks

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).

Table 8: Evaluations of Court Clerks by Race

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Significant Diff
Courteousness
White	32	42	18	8	Yes
Non-White	22	40	27	12
Helpfulness
White	33	42	18	7	Yes
Non-White	22	38	30	10
Sensitivity
White	30	38	22	9	Yes
Non-White	19	36	32	13
Knowledge of court procedures
White	30	48	17	5	Yes
Non-White	21	47	19	12
Office Hours
White	16	48	26	10	Yes
Non-White	10	38	30	21

Table 9: Evaluations of Court Clerks by Gender

Excellent		Good		Fair		Poor		Significant Diff
Courteousness
Male		33		41		18		8		Yes
Female		27		43		20		10
Helpfulness
Male		34		42		18		7		Yes
Female		27		42		21		10
Sensitivity
Male		30		38		23		9		Yes
Female		25		39		24		12
Knowledge of Court Procedures
Male	29		47		18		5		No
Female	26		49		18		7
Office Hours
Male	13		48		28		11		No
Female	17		48		25		10

Foreign Language Interpreters

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).

Table 10: Evaluations of Court-Employed Foreign Language Interpreters by Race and Gender

		Excellent		Good		Fair		Poor		Significant Diff
Adequacy of Interpreters
White		15		37		27		22		No
Non-White		11		35		20		35
Availability of Interpreters
White		11		33		28		28		Yes
Non-White		5		21		40		33
Adequacy of Interpreters
White		16		34		29		21		Yes
Non-White		10		35		25		29
Availability of Interpreters
White	11		33		29		27		No
Non-White	9		30		27		34

Court Forms and Fees

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.

Table 11: Evaluations of Court Forms and Fees by Race

		Excellent		Good		Fair		Poor		Significant Diff
Understandability of Forms
White		13		52		28		6		No
Non-White		13		45		29		13
Assistance in Completing Forms
White		13		47		28		13		No
Non-White		9		44		29		18
Reasonableness of Filing Fees
White		8		33		35		24		No
Non-White		6		38		34		21
Reasonableness of Copying Fees
White	9		40		34		16		No
Non-White	9		42		29		19

Table 12: Evaluations of Court Forms and Fees by Gender

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 13: Evaluations of Court Scheduling by Race

		Excellent		Good		Fair		Poor		Significant Diff
Reliability of Schedule
White		11		40		29		20		No
Non-White		9		30		37		24
Prompt Start
White		13		39		28		20		Yes
Non-White		11		28		36		24
Prompt Hearing
White		8		29		32		31		No
Non-White		5		23		40		31
Prompt Resolution
White	8		31		34		26		No
Non-White	6		26		36		32
Timeliness of Judges' Decisions
White	13		44		30		13		Yes
Non-White	11		29		37		24

Table 14: Evaluations of Court Scheduling by Gender

		Excellent		Good		Fair		Poor		Significant Diff
Reliability of Schedule
Male		9		40		31		20		No
Female		12		38		28		22
Prompt Start
Male		12		40		28		20		No
Female		13		36		29		21
Prompt Hearing
Male		8		28		35		28		Yes
Female		8		25		32		36
Prompt Resolution
Male	8		33		34		26		No
Female	8		27		36		29
Timeliness of Judges' Decisions
Male	13		43		31		14		No
Female	14		41		31		15

Summary of Excellent/Good Ratings

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).

Summary of Excellent and Good Ratings by Race and Gender

	Whites	Non-Whites	Males	Females
Overall court job performance	57%	42%	57%	53%
Capitol police courteousness	84%	77%	81%	83%
Capitol police helpfulness	82%	77%	80%	82%
Capitol police sensitivity	85%	68%	72%	74%
Sheriffs courteousness	75%	70%	75%	74%
Sheriffs helpfulness	75%	72%	75%	73%
Sheriffs sensitivity	68%	64%	67%	66%
Clerks courteousness	74%	62%	74%	70%
Clerks helpfulness	75%	60%	76%	69%
Clerks sensitivity	68%	55%	68%	64%
Clerks knowledge	78%	68%	76%	75%
Clerks office hours of service	64%	48%	61%	65%
Adequacy of interpreters	52%	46%	50%	45%
Availability of interpreters	44%	26%	44%	39%
Forms understandability	65%	58%	66%	61%
Assistance in completing forms	60%	53%	61%	54%
Reasonableness of filing fees	41%	44%	36%	48%
Reasonableness of copying fees	49%	51%	46%	53%
Reliability of court schedule	51%	39%	49%	50%
Prompt start	52%	39%	52%	49%
Prompt hearing	37%	28%	36%	33%
Prompt resolution	39%	32%	41%	35%
Timeliness of judges' decisions	57%	40%	56%	55%
Fairness of court process	64%	41%	63%	59%
Dignity of court process	65%	44%	65%	60%
Court process explained	67%	49%	65%	67%

Question Wording and Responses

How would you rate the following characteristics of the personnel in the court you are visiting today?

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

How would you rate the following processes in the court you are visiting today?

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

How would you rate the overall job being done by the court you are visiting today? 8% excellent, 39% good, 27% only fair, 11% poor, 15% don't know, no answer