Public approval of the Supreme Court is rising, hitting its highest level in more than a year, according to a new poll published this week by Marquette Law School.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based school’s study discovered that 47 percent of adults approved of the job the nation’s highest court is doing, while 53 percent disapproved.
Public support for the Supreme Court was substantially higher almost four years ago. In Marquette’s September 2020 poll, 66 percent of respondents approved of the court, while 33 percent disapproved.
The new survey was carried out from March 18 to 28 and consisted of 1,000 adult respondents across the United States. It is considered to have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Among respondents, 64 percent of Republicans approved of the Supreme Court, while 36 percent disapproved. Democrats’ support of the court weighed in at 31 percent, compared to a disapproval figure of 69 percent. Independents’ support was 38 percent, compared to 62 percent who disapproved.
This is the highest level of public approval for the court since January 2023, when it was also 47 percent with 53 percent disapproving. The last time approval was higher than 50 percent was in March 2022, when it was 54 percent.
In Marquette’s February 2024 poll, the approval level was 40 percent, compared to 60 percent disapproval.
The rising numbers come after the Supreme Court heard some high-profile appeals, including whether states are allowed to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.
The Supreme Court held unanimously in Trump v. Anderson on March 4 that Colorado cannot keep President Trump off the ballot because it is up to Congress, not the states, to enforce the insurrection clause.
Among respondents, 56 percent favored the court’s ruling, while 39 percent opposed it, and 5 percent indicated no opinion.
Among Republicans, 87 percent favored the ruling, while 11 percent opposed it, and 2 percent expressed no opinion. Among Democrats, 26 approved of the ruling, while 69 percent disapproved, and 6 percent had no opinion. Independents supported the decision by 50 percent, with 41 percent disapproving, and 9 percent failing to express an opinion.
On April 25, the Supreme Court will hear Trump v. United States, which is about whether presidents should have immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions taken during their presidency. The case comes out of charges laid against President Trump for his attempt to contest the results of the 2020 election and his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, security breach at the U.S. Capitol.
In February of this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held unanimously that President Trump is not immune from prosecution.
Most poll respondents did not believe that President Trump should be immune. When the question was asked without naming President Trump, just 20 percent said former presidents should enjoy immunity, while 28 percent said they should enjoy immunity when President Trump’s name was included in the question.
Charles Franklin, a professor of law and public policy and the director of the Marquette Law School poll, said the 8-point gap on the immunity question appeared to be attributable to Republicans who oppose immunity for former presidents in general but were more inclined to support immunity for President Trump, who is now the Republican Party’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee.
“The striking finding is that Republicans reverse themselves when asked about Trump rather than ‘former presidents,’” Mr. Franklin told CNN.
“One implication is that Republicans are not paying enough attention to Trump’s Supreme Court appeal to realize without prompting that the immunity case is about Trump,” he said. “Only when the question directly says, ‘This is about Trump’ do they swing sharply, reversing what they would think about ‘former presidents’ in general.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on March 26 in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which is about restrictions concerning the abortion pill mifepristone. Medication abortions are reportedly lawful in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
Most poll respondents–60 percent—said the court should rule that current levels of access to mifepristone should be maintained, while 25 percent disagreed, and 15 percent didn’t know.
Among Republicans, 43 percent said current access should be maintained, while 41 percent disagreed, and 16 percent didn’t know. Among Democrats, 81 percent said current access should be maintained, while 9 percent disagreed, and 10 percent didn’t know. With Independents, 49 favored current access being maintained, while 18 percent disagreed, and 33 percent didn’t know.
The mifepristone case comes two years after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade (1973), found that there was no constitutional right to an abortion, and returned the regulation of abortion to the states.
Public support for the Supreme Court fell dramatically after the June 2022 ruling, known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and has not returned to previous levels since then. In the same ruling, the high court also overturned a 1992 precedent known as Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which held that states can’t impose significant restrictions on abortion before a fetus becomes viable for life outside the womb.
