June 22, 2005--A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 20% of
Americans believe prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been treated
unfairly. Seven-out-of-ten adults believe the prisoners are being
treated "better than they deserve" (36%) or "about right" (34%).
The survey also found that just 14%
agree with people who say that prisoner treatment at Guantanamo Bay
is similar to Nazi tactics. Sixty-nine percent disagree with that
comparison. This helps explain why Illinois Senator Dick Durbin
apologized for making such a comparison.
Partisan differences concerning prisoner
treatment are huge. Only 7% of Republicans believe Guantanamo
prisoners are treated unfairly. Thirty percent (30%) of Democrats
hold that view along with 22% of those not affiliated with either
major party.
Forty-five percent (45%) of Republicans
say the prisoners are treated better than they deserve. That view is
shared by 28% of Democrats.
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Seventeen percent (17%) of men say that the prisoners are
treated unfairly along with 22% of women. Eighteen percent (18%) of
married Americans hold that view along with 22% of those who are not
married.
Among white Americans, 18% believe the
prisoners are treated unfairly, a view shared by 23% of other
Americans.
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public opinion polling information.
Our publications provide real-time information on
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Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports,
has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.
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The telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was
conducted by Rasmussen Reports June 20-21, 2005. The margin of
sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95%
level of confidence. 37% of survey respondents were Republican, 37%
Democrat, and 26% unaffiliated (see Methodology)
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