American Journal of Criminal Justice· 2026Q1
Racial Differences in Interpretations of Standards of Proof and Jury Impartiality in the U.S. Criminal Justice System
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- 2026year
Short summary
Black respondents apply stricter qualitative views of "beyond a reasonable doubt" and more lenient views of "preponderance of the evidence" than White respondents, and lower quantitative thresholds for both standards.
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Key points
- Black respondents interpret "beyond a reasonable doubt" more strictly and "preponderance of the evidence" more leniently than White respondents.
- Black respondents set lower quantitative thresholds for both "beyond a reasonable doubt" and "preponderance of the evidence" compared to White respondents.
- Black respondents show higher confidence in the impartiality of racially diverse and all-Black juries than in all-White juries.
- Findings suggest racial lenses significantly influence perceptions of legal standards and jury impartiality.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract This study explores racial differences in public perceptions of key standards of proof, specifically “beyond a reasonable doubt” and “preponderance of the evidence,” as well as evaluations of impartiality toward juries with varying racial compositions in the U.S. criminal justice system. Using data from 1,193 respondents, we find that White and Black respondents differ in their interpretations of guilt and liability: Black respondents generally apply stricter qualitative views of “beyond a reasonable doubt” and more lenient qualitative interpretations of “preponderance of the evidence,” and lower quantitative thresholds than White respondents for both standards. Black respondents also expressed greater confidence in the impartiality of racially diverse and all-Black juries than in all-White juries. These patterns suggest that White and Black respondents perceive standards of proof and jury impartiality through distinct racial lenses.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Law
LawSocial Sciences