Explaining Public Attitudes Toward Local Courts

Abstract

Most studies of public support for courts have been based on the U.S. Supreme Court, but this article argues that public support for state and local courts is theoretically quite different because many people have personal experience with those courts. The article proposes a model of public support for state courts that incorporates perceptions of how fairly people are treated and other measures of court performance, as well as more familiar variables. The model is tested on data from Utah and finds that perception of fairness is especially important for people with experience and that general confidence in government is especially important for those without experience.