Racial Polarization in Attitudes towards the Criminal Legal System

Abstract Existing research often views attitudes toward the U.S. criminal legal system as reflections of punitive sentiment, overlooking racial differences in how people respond to questions related to crime and punishment. Using over four decades of nationally representative survey data from the General Social Survey, we employ latent class analysis to examine racial variation in attitudes about the U.S. criminal legal system across time. We find that among White Americans, support for increased spending to combat crime corresponds with support for harsher courts and the death penalty. In contrast, many Black Americans support increased spending on crime but oppose harsher courts and the death penalty, indicating simultaneous concern about crime and a more punitive criminal legal system. Although aggregate trends in punitiveness change similarly across race and time, we show that while preferences for punitive policies remain high among White Americans, the proportion of Black Americans who are simultaneously concerned about crime and a punitive criminal legal system rose from 14 percent in 1994 to 56 percent in 2018. These results highlight the salience of race in shaping how people evaluate the criminal legal system and draw attention to racial polarization in views on punishment and justice.