­Thomas has highest unfavorability on Supreme Court: Poll

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has the highest unfavorability among all Supreme Court justices, unseating Brett Kavanaugh as the least popular justice for the first time, according to a recent poll. 

In a new national Supreme Court poll conducted by Marquette Law School over a 10-day period in May 2023, Thomas became the least popular justice, with 25 percent of respondents saying they had a favorable view of him and 36 percent saying they had an unfavorable view, an 11-point net negative view.

Kavanaugh remained in a close second, with 22 percent saying they had a favorable view and 32 percent saying they had an unfavorable view, a 10-point net negative view. Amy Coney Barrett followed with 19 percent favorable view and a 27 percent unfavorable view, an 8-point net negative view. 

A closer look at the data and a comparison to earlier poll results reveal interesting insights into the public’s general view of the court and the justices. 

Most Americans are not familiar with the individual justices. Thomas is the most widely known Supreme Court justice, with 60 percent of respondents saying they know him well enough to rate him. Brett Kavanaugh is the second most widely known justice, with 54 percent of respondents saying they know him well enough to rate him. 

For the other seven justices, a majority of respondents said they do not know them well enough to give them a rating. Elena Kagan was the least well-known justice, with 72 percent of respondents unable to rate her. 

Four of the justices have a net positive rating, four have a net negative rating, while Alito hovers at almost a net neutral position, though in May 2023 he dipped to minus 2 net negative rating. 

Of the four with favorable ratings, Sonia Sotomayor is first with a net of 14 points, Ketanji Brown Jackson is second with a net of 8 points, Elena Kagan follows with a net of 7 points, and Neil Gorsuch is in fourth with a net of 4 points. 

Compared with data from March 2023, the majority of justices had a slight dip in favorability, but none more than Thomas, whose net favorability dropped from a net of minus 3 points in March to a net favorability of minus 11 points in May. 

Asked to rate the “honesty and ethical standards” of U.S. Supreme Court justices compared with other institutions, Supreme Court justices had a net rating of minus 9 points, with 26 percent rating them high/very high; 35 percent rating them low/very low and 39 percent rating them average. 

They were viewed more favorably than journalists, who had a net favorability of minus 26; lawyers, minus 29; and cable TV news, minus 49. 

When compared to data from September 2019, confidence in the Supreme Court has dropped. In 2019, 37 percent of respondents had a great deal/a lot of confidence and 20 percent had little/none, a net confidence rating of 17 points. In May 2023, 25 per10/9cent had a great deal of confidence while 39 percent said little/none, a net confidence rating of minus 14. 

The Marquette Law School poll was conducted from May 8-18, and it interviewed 1,010 adults across the nation. It has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.