Social justice literature has consistently shown that fairness perceptions positively influence evaluations of policies, leaders, and institutions ( Tyler , 1989). Given this robust finding, it is interesting that Americans were more willing to defer to leaders on restrictions of civil liberties following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 . Possible explanations for this deference come from social justice and terror management studies, which suggest that the impact of fairness on these judgments may be influenced by situational factors, such as mortality and security salience (e.g., Feather, 1998; van den Bos & Miedema, 2000). The present study examined the effects of mortality and security salience on the emphasis placed on fairness as students evaluated a recommended security policy, authorities, and their institution, following security threats that actually occurred at their own university. We found that forcing participants to think about their deaths decreased the emphasis placed on fairness when making evaluations. Moreover, when security concerns and mortality were simultaneously primed, the effects of fairness on evaluations of authorities and institutions were eliminated.