Posted on 06/15/2005 5:40:35 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The public's image of the Supreme Court has eroded over the past few years, with just over half of those in a new poll saying they have a favorable view of the high court.
With major changes expected as aging justices leave the bench, 57 percent of people had a favorable view of the court in the poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Only Justice Clarence Thomas, who is 56, is under the age of 65. Nominations of new justices are likely in the coming months and years.
For more than a decade, at least seven in 10 people had a favorable view of the high court. In January 2001, just after the court ruled that President Bush was the winner of the 2000 election, 68 percent had a favorable view.
Democrats grew more negative about the court after the 2000 decision on the election, and 51 percent of Democrats now have a positive view. But conservative Republicans have been growing more negative in their views of the court, the poll found. Favorable opinions of the court have dropped by 20 points among conservative Republicans and white evangelical Christians since January 2001.
"The court is taking criticism from both sides of the political spectrum," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "Liberals lost regard for the court in 2001 following the 2000 election ruling, and the court has lost favor with conservative Republicans, possibly because of their discontent about some big social issues they are focused on."
Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are most likely to say the selection of the next Supreme Court justice is very important to them personally. The overall number of people who feel that way is up to 47 percent, compared with 38 percent in March.
The public is evenly split on whether they want President Bush to select a nominee who will move the court in a more conservative or more liberal direction.
One issue that is certain to be central in coming battles over the court's makeup is the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal. Almost two-thirds oppose "completely overturning" that decision.
Opponents of the decision to make abortion legal appear to be more passionate about the selection of the next justice than those who support Roe v. Wade. Six in 10 opponents of the decision to make abortion legal said the selection of the next justice is very important to them personally, while just four in 10 supporters of that decision felt that way.
The poll of 1,464 adults was taken June 8-12 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
ON THE NET
Pew Research Center: http://www.people-press.org
The Supreme Court became subject to the popular opinion when they assumed the role of tyrant. I shed no tear for them.
If the Supreme Court wants to improve its image, perhaps it should quit making crappy decisions in favor of the left.
Ab-so-damn-lutely.
It is a fundamental right of American citizens to criticize their government. That includes the courts.
oh, i get it!
if the supremes were all liberals, then the public's trust would rise.
SCOTUS = stealing your liberties piece-by-piece
Any idiot who answered the phone when Pew made phone calls heading into a weekend.
Here is a DIRECT link to the survey on Pew's site:
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=247
Even more informative than the article--thanks for posting it, NR!
Actually, it is just one issue: The constitution.
"Actually, it is just one issue: The constitution."
BTTT on that.
No problem and Thanks!
I get my PEW (flu) shot every year whether I need to or not. -)
Neither do I.
I'm referring to Foreign policy.
The other 7 clowns seem to wake up every morning thinking they are Gods, and look every where EXCEPT the Constitution (foreign law, tea leaves, uh ... I saw it in the NY Times, ...) to rule the way they want to rule. They are not fit to be on that Court!
Although the Supreme Court is the most powerful of the three branches; the secrete they fear getting out is that they are as impotent as the Wizard of Oz.
Some great scholar once said: "The Executive Branch has the military, the Legislative Branch has the purse strings, and the Judicial Branch has magic."
I am awaiting a flurry of decisions next week....on major issues like file sharing and the Ten Commandments.
The court is waiting until the very last second as usual to issue the only rulings that really matter. They issue a lot of rulings the rest of the year, but very few matter at the end of the day. But, those will.
To borrow from Stalin - they don't have any "divisions". If enough of us do it or refuse to do it - whatever "it" is in a specific case - there is no way they can enforce it.
They can insist the schools throw kids out of school for praying before a ballgame. But it's the schools who will have to deal with the loss of funding from the reduced headcount - and face fan pressure - no pressure like that from a frustrated HS booster. If you were a local school board/administration which would you respond to?
It's easy to hand down rulings you don't have to enforce. Maybe they would like to have to guarantee that the prisoners released from Gitmo won't go on to kill more Americans?
The judiciary better start thinking before they continue farther down the road of assinine fiats. There will be a last straw and then they will lose most of their power when We the People finally realize we don't have to cater to their nonsense. We never did but as long as they were half way reasonable we went along with it.
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