| State | Question | Response | Report/Sourcea |
| Arizona May 1997 n=511 |
Respondents were asked to indicate whether they had a "great deal" of confidence, "some" confidence, "a little" confidence, or not confidence at all in each of ten public institutions, one of which was the [Arizona] state courts in general. | 16% a great deal of confidence
56% some confidence 18% little or no confidence |
"Arizona State Court Citizen Survey: The Public Perspective," (July 1997), pp. 14, 18. |
| California
Fall 1992 n=1,506 |
"I would like to know about your confidence in different institutions. Do you feel extremely confident, very confident, somewhat confident, slightly confident, or not at all confident in the California court system?" | 17% extremely or very confident in the courts | Yankelovich, Skelly and White/Clancy Shulman, "Surveying the future: Californians' Attitudes on the Court System" (Prepared for 2020 Vision, The Commission on the Future of the Courts, 1992). |
| Florida 1996 n=1,042 |
"Overall, what is your opinion of the Florida state court system? Would you say it is excellent, very good, good, only fair, or poor?" | 41% good or better 48% fair or poor. | Allen Brown, "Public Opinion Research," 3:6 Full Court Press 1,4 (November-December 1996). |
| "I would like to know about your confidence in difference institutions. Do you feel extremely confident, very confident, somewhat confident, slightly confident, or not at all confident in the ... Florida court system?" | 13% extremely or very
confident
76% slightly or not at all confident |
Oppenheim Research, "Judicial Management Council Statewide Florida Opinion Survey: Final Report" (1996). | |
| Idaho May 1997 n=378 (quasi-random sample of white-collar workers) |
"Please describe your level of confidence in these Idaho Institutions-state courts" [alternatives: extremely confident, very confident, somewhat confident, slightly confident, not at all confident, don't know] | 23% extremely or very confident | |
| Iowa Sept/Oct 1995 n=803 |
"Generally speaking, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Iowa courts are doing? | 63.5% approve 21.5% disapprove | |
| Respondents were asked to rate "feeling toward various institutions
or groups" on a 100 point feeling thermometer scale" (0-49 negative,
50 neutral, 51-100 positive) including: Iowa Supreme Court Iowa state courts in general |
Iowa Supreme Court 47.1% positive 25.6% neutral 9.6% negative Iowa state courts |
||
| Respondents were asked to indicate "how much trust" they had in each of several institutions on a 5 point scale (1=no trust at all, 5=trust a great deal) including both Iowa Supreme Court and Iowa state courts in general | Iowa S.C. 5 10.1% 4 36.0 3 35.9 2 8.3 1 2.9 Iowa Courts |
||
| Louisiana Winter 1997-98 n=1,208 general public n=1,307 court users* *anyone having used the courts in the prior five years |
Respondents were asked "Generally speaking, do you approve or disapprove of the job the Louisiana Courts are doing? (PAUSE) Is that strongly or not very strongly?" | General public 6% strongly approve 44% approve 23% disapprove 13% strongly disapprove 15% don't know or refused Court users | "Citizen Evaluation of the Louisiana Courts: A Report to the Lousiana Supreme Court," Volume 1 (New Orleans: University of New Orleans Survey Research Center, 1998), Table 1 |
| Massachusetts April 1991 n=400 |
Respondents were asked to rate the Massachusetts court system on a scale of "excellent, good, only fair, or poor." | 1% excellent 20% good 71% "only fair" or "poor" 8% unsure |
"Public Opinion about the Future of the Courts," in Report of the Chief Justice's Commission on the Future of the Courts (1992), p. 106. |
| Michigan Spring 1986 n=789 |
"How confident do you feel about the Michigan Supreme Court? Do you feel extremely confident, very confident, somewhat confident, slightly confident, or not confident at all?" | 42% extremely or very confident | |
| Mississippi Aug. 1995 n=671 |
In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way your local courts are doing? | 47.8% approve 31.9% disapprove 20.1% don't know |
|
| In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way the Mississippi Supreme Court is doing? | 36.7% approve 20.1% disapprove 42.6% don't know |
||
| New Jersey Fall 1992 n=800 |
"Overall, how would you rate the job the courts in New Jersey are doing-excellent, good, only fair, or poor?" | 3% excellent 29% good 37% only fair 21% poor 9% don't know |
Eagleton Poll (Fall 1992 omnibus survey) |
| "How much confidence do you have in New Jersey courts and judges-a lot, some, or not very much?" | 17% a lot 51% some 27% not much 5% don't know |
||
| New Mexico Spring 1997 n=403 |
"Overall, would you say your impressions and feelings toward the court system in New Mexico are very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative or very negative?" | 39% positive 51% negative |
Research & Polling, "State Bar of New Mexico/Administrative Office of the Courts Community Survey," (June 1997), Question 21. |
| North Carolina n = 805 Aug/Sep 1995 |
"For my first question, I would like to know if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the court system in North Carolina?" | 35.5% favorable 32.6% unfavorable 29.9% neither/no answer |
|
| (half of sample) | "Next I would like to read you a list of institutions or groups in North Carolina. Please tell me if you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of the following organizations [North Carolina courts one of five institutions, possibly listed last]". Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of them? Would this be very or somewhat (favorable/unfavorable)?" | 50.3% favorable 24.2% unfavorable |
|
| Rhode Island March 1989 n=400 |
"I would like to talk to you about your confidence in different institutions in American society. As far as the [Rhode Island Supreme court/Rhode Island courts], do you feel extremely confident, very confident, somewhat confident, slightligh confident, or not at all confident in the _____?" | RI SC Ex. 4% Very 23 Some 48 Slight 18 Not 7 RI Courts |
|
| Utah April 1990 n = 612 |
"As far as the people running these institutions are concerned, how confident do you feel about each institution (using 1-7 scale, with one being not at all confident and seven being extremely confident)." Ratings were obtained for "Utah Supreme Court" and "Utah trial courts." | UT S.C. 7 5% 6 24% 5 30% 4 19% 3 7% 2 4% 1 4% UT Trial Courts |
|
| Virginia 1992 n=1,600 |
"How would you rate your overall impression of Virginia's court system? Would you say you are very positive, generally positive, generally negative, or very negative?" | 60% positive | Judicial Council of Virginia, "The Public as Partners: Incorporating Consumer Research into Strategic Planning for Courts" (March 1994), pp. 3-5,3-7. |
| Washington Jan/Feb 1988 n=200 |
"Thinking about your own personal experiences or things you may have seen or heard, how would you rate your overall impression of the Washington State Court System? Use a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is very negative and 7 is very positive." | 48% positive 28% neutral 23% negative mean 4.37 (slightly above "neutral" on 7 point scale) |
GMA Research Corpora-tion, "Washington State Judicial Survey, Final Report," (prepared for Office of the Adminis-trator for the Courts, State of Washington, 1988), p. 28. |
aIf no report or source is listed, the text of questions and the response statistics were provided by David B. Rottman, National Center for State Courts.