Public views of Justice Ginsburg and appointments to the Supreme Court
MILWAUKEE — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, was the best known of the current justices, according to a new Marquette Law School national survey of public opinion of the Supreme Court, completed three days before her death. While few of the justices have become household names, Ginsburg was the best known of the current justices, with 63 percent of respondents saying they knew enough about her to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion. She was seen favorably by 44 percent and unfavorably by 19 percent of adult respondents nationwide. By comparison, Chief Justice John Roberts was recognized and rated by 41 percent, while the most recently confirmed member of the Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was almost as well-known as Ginsburg, with 60 percent. The vacancy on the Court created by Ginsburg’s death greatly increases the salience of a possible appointment to the Court in the midst of a presidential election campaign. In the survey, 48 percent say that the choice of the next justice is very important to them and 34 percent say it is somewhat important, while 17 percent say it is not too important or not at all important to them. Among likely voters who support Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, 59 percent say that the next court appointment is very important, while 51 percent of likely voters who support President Donald J. Trump say this. The importance of Court appointments, by vote choice, is shown in Table 1. Table 1: Importance of next Court appointment, by presidential vote Vote choiceVery importantSomewhat importantNot too/not at allBiden593011Trump513415 Partisan differences among all adults in the degree of importance of the next appointment are shown in Table 2, with 56 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of Republicans saying that the appointment is very important to them. Table 2 shows the full set of responses by partisanship. Table 2: Importance of next Court appointment, by party identification Party IDVery importantSomewhat importantNot too/not at allRepublican483318Independent393724Democrat563211 The question of holding hearings and a vote on confirming a new justice immediately became an issue with Justice Ginsburg’s death, as it had following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. In this poll, conducted in the days before Ginsburg’s death, a substantial majority of respondents of both parties say that if a vacancy occurred during the 2020 election year, the Senate should hold hearings on a nominee, with 67 percent saying hearings should be held and 32 percent saying they should not be held. Views on holding hearings do not vary much by partisanship, as shown in Table 3. This table will provide a baseline from before there was a vacancy against which to measure any future change in partisan views, if a nomination is made and considered. Table 3: Hold hearings on a nominee in 2020, by party identification Party IDHold hearingsNot hold hearingsRepublican6831Independent7128Democrat6337 By contrast, partisans are much more divided on whether the decision not to hold hearings in 2016 on the nomination of Merrick B. Garland was the…