Just 38 percent of Americans now approve of the U.S. Supreme Court, while 61 percent disapprove of how the court is handling its job, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday.
The poll was taken after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the nearly 50-year-old federal right to abortion last month.
The overall number is down 22 points from July 2021, when the court had a 60 percent approval rating and a 39 percent disapproval rating.
But it is down even more from just last September, when 66 percent of Americans said they approved of the Supreme Court while just 33 percent disapproved of how the court is handling its job, according to a Marquette poll at the time.
The poll shows Americans are largely dissatisfied with the high court after a series of controversial decisions this term from the court’s 6-3 conservative majority.
Those rulings include limited power of the Environmental Protection Agency, expanded gun rights and the Second Amendment in the wake of several mass shootings and favored allowing more religion in the role of government and public services.
Most Americans, or 61 percent, say the court is motivated mainly by politics, according to the Marquette poll. About 39 percent say the court follows mainly the law.
The court’s reversal of the right to abortion, which was created in 1973 and had been reaffirmed several times, sparked outrage among the American public. More than 60 percent of Americans approve of the right to abortion.
Still, the number of Americans who support overturning Roe climbed from 32 percent in September 2019 to 36 percent in July 2022, the Marquette poll shows. Most Americans, or 64 percent, disapprove of overturning Roe v. Wade.
After the court’s decision last month, some have called to impeach some of the justices for perjury, claiming they misled the public about their opinions on Roe during confirmation hearings.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who voted to overturn Roe, wrote in his concurring opinion that he wanted to reconsider cases that created the right to same-sex marriage, the right to use contraception and the right to privacy in the bedroom. A petition to impeach Thomas has collected more than 1 million signatures.
Around 66 percent of Americans favor the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage, while 34 percent oppose the ruling.
Americans are divided in how they want the Supreme Court to rule. Fifty-four percent say justices should consider public opinion in rulings, compared to 46 percent who say they should ignore it.
Thirty-three percent back the idea of the court following precedents, compared to 66 percent who say they should overturn a precedent if a majority of the public believes the ruling was wrong.
Following the stunning reversal of Roe, House Democrats have proposed adding four more seats to the court, but that idea remains unpopular.
About 49 percent of Americans approve of expanding the court, compared to 51 percent of Americans who disapprove of the idea.
The Marquette poll was conducted July 5-12 among 1,003 adults nationwide. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.