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Marquette poll finds decline in approval of how U.S. Supreme Court does its job

There are sharp divides among Republicans and Democrats, but Supreme Court approval has declined from both parties, whereas approval changed little among independents.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By: Madison Goldbeck

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MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey found a continuing decline in approval of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is doing its job.

The latest survey was conducted May 8-18, 2023, and interviewed 1,010 adults nationwide with a margin of error of +/-3.7 percentage points.

The survey, released Wednesday, showed 41% of adults approve while 59% disapprove. It is a 6 percentage-point decline from January, which found 47% approved and 53% disapproved of how the U.S. Supreme Court was doing its job.

However, it is an improvement since 2020. According to Marquette University, approval for the U.S. Supreme Court has swung back and forth since 2020.

"In each cycle, (approval) has reached a lower peak than the previous cycle, before again turning down," the university said in a statement Wednesday. "The peak in September 2020 was 66%, followed by peaks of 54% in November 2021 and March 2022, with the most recent peak of 47% in January 2023."

There are sharp divides among Republicans and Democrats, but approval has declined from both parties, whereas approval changed little among independents. (See table below)

*Table 2: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job?, by party identification*

Confidence in the Supreme Court has also been declining since 2019. That year, 37% had a "great deal or quite a lot of confidence." In May 2023, confidence is at 25%.

According to Marquette, those surveyed with "very little or no confidence" increased from 20% in Sept. 2019 to 39% in May 2023. (See the full table below)

*Table 11: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? The U.S. Supreme Court.*

The survey also found there is low confidence in American institutions. The five institutions the survey asked about were the U.S. Supreme Court, the presidency, Congress, local news media, and the national news media. The survey shows the Supreme Court has the least negative net confidence and national news was the most negatively viewed. (See the full table below)