Poll: Majority of Dems Think Criminal Justice System Is ‘Fundamentally Unjust’

ashley.rae | February 15, 2016
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A majority of Democrats think the American justice system is fundamentally unjust.

A recent YouGov poll conducted from Feb. 4-5 asked 1,000 Americans about their opinions on the American justice system.

In response to the question, “Do you think that the justice system in America is fundamentally just or unjust?” 39 percent of Americans said the system is “just” while 36 responded it is “unjust.”

Democrats and Republicans, however, have more extreme feelings on the issue.

The poll shows 52 percent of Democrats believe the American legal system is “unjust,” compared to 25 percent of Republicans who feel the same way. Only 30 percent of Democrats stated they think the legal system is “just,” compared to 53 percent of Republicans.

The Democrats’ attitude that the legal system is unjust is seen throughout the poll.

The poll shows 70 percent of Democrats believe it is either “very common” (27 percent) or “somewhat common” (43 percent) for an individual to be arrested for a crime that he did not commit.

Similarly, a majority of Democrats (58 percent) responded it is either “very common” (24 percent) or “somewhat common” (34 percent) for an innocent person to be convicted of a crime he did not commit.

The YouGov poll was conducted through Web-based interviews and has a margin of error of ± 4.6 percent (adjusted for weighting)

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