Perceived Fairness Essay

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Within the United States there is much controversy surrounding the death penalty, particularly between racial groups. There are also very different views regarding the fairness of the legal system that varies amongst different races, specifically African Americans, Hispanics/Latino, and White/Caucasians. There is empirical evidence that exists and research has been conducted to show that there is a relationship between beliefs regarding the fairness of the legal system and support for the death penalty amongst each race. The research question proposed in this paper is to examine if there is a relationship between beliefs regarding the fairness of the legal system and support for the death penalty. According to Peffley and Hurwitz (2010), racial differences were examined in regard to the support or non support of the death penalty as well as the perceived fairness and equality of the justice system. These two variables were measured in accordance to race between blacks and whites In this study, an overwhelming gap between blacks and whites on levels of trust and confidence in police and courts existed. (Peffley & Hurwitz, 2010) The research they conducted found that fairness perceptions are central to views about the system and African Americans hold separate views on police, courts, and the law than do whites. It was found that blacks review the justice system as unfair; they're more sympathetic toward black civilians and mistrusting police. On the contrary, whites are more likely to have views regarding the system as fair and place heavy trust in the courts. After conducting the study, it was found that blacks are likely to view the system as unfair because they have biased views on the justice system. Blacks do not agree that the justice system is fair and equal and in turn show very low support for the death penalty. This study found that a persons
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