Procedural Fairness: A Key Ingredient in Public Satisfaction

A mericans are highly sensitive to the processes of procedural fairness. It is no sur­ prise, then, that the perception of unfair or unequal treatment "is the single most important source of popular dissatisfaction with the American legal system." I Even first-graders react negatively to a situation where a mother punishes her child for a broken vase without consulting a witness first. This negative reaction signifies power­ fully that children are already sensitive to the principles of procedural fairness. 2 If chil­ dren in early elementary school already react negatively to perceived violations of proce­ dural fairness, it is only that much more imperative to address the needs of the adults who appear in the courts to fight for custody of their children, file bankruptcy, contest a speed­ ing ticket, or respond to allegations of felonious criminal hehavior.

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