The upsurge in sensational media coverage of
high-profile trials and investigations during the 1990s is undermining the
country's faith in the criminal justice system, according to a survey by
Richard Fox, assistant professor of political science.
Focusing on seven of the decade's most-covered trials
and investigations, the survey of 1,000 randomly-chosen Americans finds
the cases having an adverse effect on how people view the system.
“Although the media has long been drawn to
sensational criminal trials, the attention it devotes to them has
increased exponentially in the past decade,” said Fox. “Clearly,
this phenomenon is having a profound impact – and not a healthy
one.”
The three most damaging cases – the O.J. Simpson
murder trial, JonBenet Ramsey investigation, and Clinton Senate
impeachment trial – cause, respectively, 75 percent, 70 percent, and 58
percent of the respondents to have less confidence in American criminal
justice.
Only 3 percent and 2 percent respectively have more
confidence as a result of the first two cases, the survey finds. And
despite the fact that Clinton's Senate trial ratified Americans'
overwhelming opposition to his removal from office, only 6 percent of
respondents say the trial has bolstered their faith in the system.
Less damaging in their effects but still negative
overall are three other high-profile trials – the first trial of the
police officers who beat Rodney King, the William Kennedy Smith rape
trial, and the Louise Woodward nanny trial. Only the case of the Menendez
Brothers, the sole defendants to be convicted and sentenced to long prison
terms, brings an increase in confidence among respondents, though a
decidedly modest one.
Not only do the seven cases lead people take a dimmer
view of American criminal justice in general, the survey finds, but they
feel less secure about how the system will treat them personally. Thus, 44
percent of the respondents say they feel less confident that
criminal-justice laws will protect their rights.