Opinion

Supreme Court gains confidence as power concerns climb

Americans are beginning to regain confidence in the Supreme Court after hitting an all-time low when the court effectively ruled to overturn Roe v Wade, according to an AP-NORC poll released Friday.

Josephine Walker
Josephine Walker

The big picture: The confidence boost is notable because Americans increasingly think that the Supreme Court has too much power, a trend likely to grow as the justices continue to take on cases that Americans are deeply divided on.

Driving the news: The poll found that 67% of adults now have at least some confidence in the high court, up from 56% in a poll conducted shortly after the reproductive rights ruling.

  • Thirty-eight percent of respondents think the court has too much power, a significant jump from 29% in April.

Zoom in: The number of people who think the Supreme Court has too much power varies sharply depending on political affiliation.

  • Fifty-six percent of Democrats think the court has too much power, up from 34% in April.
  • Twenty percent of Republicans agree, which is roughly unchanged from the results taken in April.
  • Republicans are almost two times more likely than Democrats to say that federal judges are too powerful (50% vs. 24%) which suggests an increased distrust towards the lower courts.

Between the lines: The court's 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices that President Trump appointed, has ruled in Trump's favor in a slew of high-profile wins for conservatives.

  • The court handed down a ruling in June that effectively weakens the judicial branches overall power.
  • In that case, Trump v. CASA, Inc., the justices determined that federal district judges do not have the ability to block laws throughout the United States, a policy known as an universal injunction.

Details: The AP-NORC poll was conducted with 1,437 adults between July 10-14. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.6 percentage points, with a margin of error of +/- 6.6 percentage points for respondents aged 18-29.

Go deeper: Most Americans view Supreme Court as partisan: Poll

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