Supreme Court Justice David Souter has reportedly decided to retire, paving the way for President Obama’s first high court appointment, but 42% of U.S. voters believe the president’s nominee will be too liberal. A nearly equal number—41%-- say his choice will be about right, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. These numbers have changed very little since Election Day.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of Republicans and a plurality of voters not affiliated with either major party (46%) say the president’s first high court pick will be too liberal. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Democratic voters expect his choice to be about right.

Forty percent (40%) of voters think Obama believes Supreme Court justices should decide cases on the basis of fairness and justice. Thirty-six percent (36%) say the president believes justices should rule based on what’s written in the U.S. Constitution. Twenty-four percent (24%) are undecided.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters continue to say the justices should base their rulings on what is written in the Constitution. Thirty percent (30%) say they should be guided by perceptions of fairness and justice.

Four-out-of-five Republicans (80%) and 75% of unaffiliated voters say the Constitution should guide the justices’ decisions. Democrats are closely divided.

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Forty-three percent (43%) of voters say in practice the Supreme Court bases its decisions on what’s written in the Constitution, down eight points from a month ago.

Most voters (56%) say Supreme Court justices have their own political agenda, but 25% believe they remain impartial. There is little partisan division on this question.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters say the court is doing a good or excellent job. Forty percent (40%) rate its performance as fair, and 16% feel its work is poor. These numbers have changed very little over the past two-and-a-half years.

Souter, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by the first President Bush in 1990, is considered moderate to liberal, so Obama’s choice is not expected to change the court’s overall ideological makeup.

In September of last year, 63% of voters said the type of Supreme Court justices a presidential candidate would appoint was important in determining how they would vote.

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