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All systems of justice make mistakes, but which do you think is worse? To convict an innocent person or To let a guilty person go free
Worse error: convicting innocent or freeing guilty person · Asked in 5 waves, 1985–2016 · 6,134 responses · weighted estimates computed from individual responses
Shares of people who gave an answer. Each column is one wave, evenly spaced rather than to scale in time; hover for exact shares.
Shares of people who gave an answer. A group’s column is left blank in waves where its effective sample is under 50; hover for exact shares.
| Group | Convict an innocent person | Let a guilty person go free | n | MoE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All respondents | 78% | 22% | 1390 | ±3 |
| Poll | Field dates | Mode | Respondents | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Social Survey 2016 | 2016-04-05 to 2016-11-19 | face to face | 2,867 | 1,390 |
| General Social Survey 2006 | 2006-03-07 to 2006-08-07 | face to face | 4,510 | 1,518 |
| General Social Survey 1996 | 1996-02-01 to 1996-05-25 | face to face | 2,904 | 1,332 |
| General Social Survey 1990 | 1990-02-06 to 1990-04-22 | face to face | 1,372 | 1,217 |
| General Social Survey 1985 | 1985-02-09 to 1985-04-23 | face to face | 1,534 | 677 |
| White | 78% | 22% | 1013 | ±4 |
| Black | 84% | 16% | 230 | ±8 |
| Other races | 70% | 30% | 147 | ±10 |
General Social Survey 2016 · US adults 18+ living in households (English, and Spanish since 2006). Shares of people who gave an answer. n is unweighted; ± is the 95% margin of error at 50% from the weighted effective sample. Groups with an effective sample under 50 are grayed; under 20, hidden.