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39% Have Favorable Opinion of U.S. Supreme Court | ||||||||||||||
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Survey of 1,000 Adults May 26-27, 2005
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June 2, 2005--Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Americans have a favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 33% have an unfavorable opinion. These results suggest that views of the Court have not changed much in recent years. A survey conducted by Scott Rasmussen five years ago (July 1, 2000) found that 35% of Americans agreed with most Supreme Court decisions while 30% disagreed. By way of comparison, 67% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the U.S. military and 38% have a favorable opinion of Senator Hillary Clinton. Cultural issues, often decided by Supreme Court rulings were the most important issue for 10% of voters on Election Day, 2004. These voters overwhelmingly supported President Bush. A March, 2005 survey found that 28% believe the Court is too liberal and 24% say it is too conservative. A separate survey found that 31% believe most judges are too liberal and 19% believe they are too conservative. Favorable views of the Supreme Court are now held by 42% of Republicans, 37% of Democrats and 38% of those not affiliated with either major party. Among men, the Court is viewed favorably by 44% and unfavorably by 36%. Among women, the numbers are 34% favorable and 31% unfavorable. From a generational perspective, the Court is seen most favorably by those aged 30-49 and least favorably by those 50 and above. The July 2000 survey found that solid majorities supported Court rulings upholding Miranda rights, allowing Elian Gonzales to return to Cuba, and a decision allowing the Boy Scouts of America to ban gays from adult membership. The public was evenly divided on a June 2000 Court ruling on partial birth abortion and opposed to a ruling banning prayer before high school football games in Texas. At that time, 44% of Americans believed that the Supreme Court was too hostile to religion while 7% said it was too friendly. An Election 2004 survey found that voters believed that the Massachusetts State Supreme Court exceeded their authority by mandating same-sex marriages for their state. Demographic details are available for Premium Members. Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Our publications provide real-time information on consumer confidence, investor confidence, employment data, the political situation, and other topics of value and interest. We provide daily updates on the economic confidence of Consumers and Investors. Our consumer data generally identifies trends two to six weeks ahead of traditional consumer confidence measures. To keep up with our latest releases, be sure to visit the Rasmussen Reports Home Page.
This survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted by Rasmussen Reports May 26-27, 2005. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. |
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