Poll: Less than half say US offers liberty and justice for all

Muriel Kane
Raw Story
November 29, 2008


A new poll from Rasmussen Reports indicates that although Americans strongly support the saying of the Pledge of Allegience, less than half of them believe that “the United States is truly the land of liberty and justice for all.”

Among those polled, just 46% said they would agree with that statement, while 42% disagreed. Even among white voters, less than half, just 49%, agreed that there is justice for all in America.

The highest level of agreement was 62% among Republicans, followed by a majority among men. However, women disagreed by a narrow plurality of 45% and Democrats by a more substantial 53%.

Black voters were the group that disagreed most strongly, with 60% denying that there is liberty and justice for all and only 20% agreeing.

However, Ramussen noted that a slightly different poll taken three weeks ago, which asked people whether they “viewed American society as fair and decent,” showed that agreement with that statement by black voters had leaped to 42% immediately following the election of Barack Obama, compared with 24% just a month earlier.

This higher figure as compared with the “justice” poll may be in line with the fact that 65% of the general population believes that American society is fair and decent. Perhaps “justice” is seen by many Americans, both black and white, as a quality both different from and more difficult to obtain than simple decency.