Marquette Law School Supreme Court Poll September 8-15, 2020

These are partial results with other items held for later release.

(Percentages are rounded to whole numbers for reporting of results. Frequencies have been rounded to whole numbers but percentages are calculated based on non-integer weighted sample sizes.)

Results for survey items among all respondents are presented here (unless otherwise indicated). Please note that some questions are only asked of particular groups of respondents. In these instances, the row “NA’s” includes the number and percent of total respondents omitted from the question. These omitted cases are ignored when calculating the “Valid” and “Cumulative” percent columns.

Q9: election 2020 (likely voters only)

[LIKELY VOTERS ONLY] If the election for president were being held today and the candidates were Joe Biden, the Democrat, Donald Trump, the Republican, Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian, and Howie Hawkins, the Green Party, for whom would you vote?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Biden 555 36 50 50
Trump 437 29 40 90
Jorgensen 31 2 3 93
Hawkins 17 1 2 94
Vote for someone else 30 2 3 97
Would not vote 26 2 2 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 4 0 0 100
(Missing) 422 28 NA NA

Q10: SCOTUS ideology

In general, would you describe the US Supreme Court as…?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Very conservative 83 5 5 5
Conservative 458 30 30 35
Moderate 815 54 54 89
Liberal 134 9 9 98
Very liberal 28 2 2 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 5 0 0 100

Q11: SCOTUS party appointments

What is your guess as to whether a majority of the current US Supreme Court Justices were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Definitely a majority appointed by Democratic presidents 58 4 4 4
Probably a majority appointed by Democratic presidents 362 24 24 28
Probably a majority appointed by Republican presidents 773 51 51 78
Definitely a majority appointed by Republican presidents 313 21 21 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 16 1 1 100

Q15A: Fav/Unfav - Samuel Alito

[Samuel Alito] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 626 41 41 41
Heard but not enough 499 33 33 74
Favorable opinion 258 17 17 91
Unfavorable opinion 129 8 8 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 11 1 1 100

Q15B: Fav/Unfav - Stephen Breyer

[Stephen Breyer] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 719 47 47 47
Heard but not enough 519 34 34 81
Favorable opinion 189 12 12 94
Unfavorable opinion 85 6 6 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 10 1 1 100

Q15C: Fav/Unfav - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[Ruth Bader Ginsburg] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 266 17 17 17
Heard but not enough 296 19 19 37
Favorable opinion 675 44 44 81
Unfavorable opinion 282 19 19 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 5 0 0 100

Q15D: Fav/Unfav - Neil Gorsuch

[Neil Gorsuch] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 566 37 37 37
Heard but not enough 439 29 29 66
Favorable opinion 286 19 19 85
Unfavorable opinion 220 14 14 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 12 1 1 100

Q15E: Fav/Unfav - Elena Kagan

[Elena Kagan] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 696 46 46 46
Heard but not enough 405 27 27 72
Favorable opinion 277 18 18 91
Unfavorable opinion 136 9 9 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 9 1 1 100

Q15F: Fav/Unfav - Brett Kavanaugh

[Brett Kavanaugh] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 243 16 16 16
Heard but not enough 351 23 23 39
Favorable opinion 425 28 28 67
Unfavorable opinion 494 32 32 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 10 1 1 100

Q15G: Fav/Unfav - John Roberts

[John Roberts] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 471 31 31 31
Heard but not enough 410 27 27 58
Favorable opinion 434 28 28 86
Unfavorable opinion 191 13 13 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 17 1 1 100

Q15H: Fav/Unfav - Clarence Thomas

[Clarence Thomas] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 336 22 22 22
Heard but not enough 346 23 23 45
Favorable opinion 455 30 30 75
Unfavorable opinion 373 25 25 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 13 1 1 100

Q15I: Fav/Unfav - Sonia Sotomayor

[Sonia Sotomayor] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 419 28 28 28
Heard but not enough 377 25 25 52
Favorable opinion 503 33 33 85
Unfavorable opinion 213 14 14 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 11 1 1 100

Q24: importance of next justice

How important is the choice of the next Supreme Court justice to you personally?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Very important 728 48 48 48
Somewhat important 522 34 34 82
Not too important 201 13 13 95
Not at all important 68 4 4 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 3 0 0 100

Q25: vote based on justice beliefs