Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 2, 1994 TAG: 9405020093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Those polled and surveyed by the council also showed a growing recognition and support for ways of resolving disputes outside the court system, such as mediation.
The council is the top policymaking body for the state's court system. It conducted the analysis of public perception of state courts with the aid of a grant from the State Justice Institute, a nonprofit agency largely financed by the federal government.
The centerpiece of the study was a telephone poll of 1,600 Virginians, 45 percent of whom had some direct involvement with a court in the last five years. Other components were a questionnaire given to people while they were in court, small group discussions and court suggestion boxes.
In the telephone poll, 60 percent of the respondents overall had a positive impression of the courts, while 65 percent of those who had had some dealings with a court had a positive impression.
Almost three-fourths of the telephone survey respondents agreed that courts follow the law in performing their duties and two-thirds agreed that judges and court personnel show courtesy and respect to the public.
The results were even more positive in the questionnaires given to those who were in court.
About three-fourths of the questionnaires reflected a positive impression of the courts, although that percentage was inflated somewhat by attorneys who made up 9 percent of the sample and had a substantially more positive impression than litigants, witnesses and jurors.
The telephone poll disclosed some problem areas for the system as well:
Barely 40 percent agreed that the courts do a good in explaining court procedures to the public or that most people can understand those procedures. Fewer than half of the 83 former jurors in the poll agreed that the system had been explained well.
Fewer than a quarter of the respondents agreed that the courts treat the poor and the wealthy alike and only 41 percent agreed that the courts treat all people alike regardless of age or race.
Almost two-thirds of those with incomes higher than $50,000 had a positive impression of the courts, compared with only 55 percent of those with incomes under $25,000.
Only 47 percent of nonwhites had a positive impression of the courts, compared with 63 percent of whites.
Only 53 percent of those with a high school education or less had a positive impression of the courts compared with 68 percent of college graduates.
Only 17 percent of the respondents believed that the cost of lawyers' services are reasonable. By contrast, 77 percent of the attorneys called in the poll believe that services are reasonably priced.
Fewer than half the respondents agreed that court cases are completed in a reasonable time or that the waiting time before a case is called is reasonable.
The small group sessions and suggestion box responses reinforced poll and questionnaire results, the study said. The council said the public's perception of the courts is influenced as much by the process of doing business with the courts as it is with the outcome of cases.
by CNB