For the third straight month, 38% of voters rate the U.S. Supreme Court’s job performance as good or excellent.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 15% say the high court is doing a poor job, up slightly from 13% in January.

However, only four percent (4%) say the Supreme Court is doing an excellent job.

The court has made no high-profile rulings in recent weeks and has been in the news only tangentially, first with Chief Justice John Roberts' flubbing of the presidential oath on Inauguration Day and then reports of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's pancreatic cancer. The latter has prompted speculation on who President Obama might name to the court.

Over the past year, the number of voters who give the court positive ratings has ranged from 31% to 43%, while the number who say the Supreme Court is doing a poor job has ranged from 13% to 22%.

By comparison, the latest ratings for Congress show just 12% of voters say the legislators are doing a good or excellent job. Fifty-four percent (54%) say Congress is doing a poor job.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? Sign up now. If it's in the news, it's in our polls.) Rasmussen Reports updates also available on Twitter.

Most voters (62%) still think the Supreme Court should base its decisions on what is written in the Constitution, and the plurality (47%) believe that is how the judges make their rulings.

Thirty-percent (30%) say court decisions should be based on fairness and justice, and 27% say that is how the current Supreme Court operates. More than one in four voters (27%) are unsure as to how the justices make their decisions.

The majority of voters (78%) say a president’s potential Supreme Court appointments were important in terms of how they voted in the 2008 election, with 45% who say it was a very important factor.

Also for the third straight month, 38% of voters believe Obama’s picks for the Supreme Court will be too liberal, while 46% say they will be about right. Only five percent (5%) fear the president’s choices will be too conservative.

Voters are divided on the president’s stance on Supreme Court decision making. While 37% say Obama believes justices should decide cases based on what’s written in the Constitution, 38% say he thinks they should rule on the basis of fairness and justice. Another 25% are undecided on what the president believes.

Forty-four percent (44%) of Republicans give the Supreme Court good or excellent ratings, along with 38% of Democrats. Only 33% of unaffiliated voters give the justices positive ratings.

Most black voters (51%) give the court positive ratings, while only 35% of whites agree. Only eight percent (8%) of blacks say the justices are doing a poor job, compared to 15% of whites.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free)… let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available to Premium Members only.