Marquette Law School Supreme Court Poll July 16-26, 2021
(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.
A1: interest in politics
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Most of the time |
388 |
38 |
38 |
38 |
Some of the time |
379 |
37 |
37 |
76 |
Only now and then |
170 |
17 |
17 |
93 |
Hardly at all |
71 |
7 |
7 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
B1: Biden approval
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Strongly approve |
261 |
26 |
26 |
26 |
Somewhat approve |
325 |
32 |
32 |
58 |
Somewhat disapprove |
167 |
17 |
17 |
75 |
Strongly disapprove |
253 |
25 |
25 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
B1: Biden approval, 2-cat
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Approve |
586 |
58 |
58 |
58 |
Disapprove |
420 |
42 |
42 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
B2: Supreme Court approval
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Strongly approve |
72 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
Somewhat approve |
530 |
52 |
52 |
60 |
Somewhat disapprove |
318 |
31 |
31 |
91 |
Strongly disapprove |
81 |
8 |
8 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
10 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B2: Supreme Court approval, 2-cat
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Approve |
602 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
Disapprove |
398 |
39 |
39 |
99 |
Refused |
10 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B3: Congress approval
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Strongly approve |
26 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
Somewhat approve |
302 |
30 |
30 |
33 |
Somewhat disapprove |
348 |
34 |
34 |
67 |
Strongly disapprove |
321 |
32 |
32 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
12 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B3: Congress approval, 2-cat
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Approve |
328 |
33 |
33 |
33 |
Disapprove |
670 |
66 |
66 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
12 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B4: most trusted branch
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
The US Congress (the legislative branch) |
133 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
The Presidency (the executive branch) |
287 |
28 |
28 |
42 |
The US Supreme Court (the judicial branch) |
583 |
58 |
58 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
7 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B5: justice motivations
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Mainly politics |
294 |
29 |
29 |
29 |
Mainly the law |
716 |
71 |
71 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
B6: Supreme Court ideology
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Very conservative |
136 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
Somewhat conservative |
373 |
37 |
37 |
50 |
Moderate |
424 |
42 |
42 |
92 |
Somewhat liberal |
61 |
6 |
6 |
98 |
Very liberal |
12 |
1 |
1 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
5 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B7: Biden ideology
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Very conservative |
39 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Somewhat conservative |
98 |
10 |
10 |
14 |
Moderate |
272 |
27 |
27 |
40 |
Somewhat liberal |
282 |
28 |
28 |
68 |
Very liberal |
312 |
31 |
31 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
7 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B8: Democratic party ideology
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Very conservative |
34 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
Somewhat conservative |
88 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
Moderate |
174 |
17 |
17 |
29 |
Somewhat liberal |
297 |
29 |
29 |
59 |
Very liberal |
408 |
40 |
40 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
8 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B9: Republican party ideology
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Very conservative |
499 |
49 |
49 |
49 |
Somewhat conservative |
324 |
32 |
32 |
82 |
Moderate |
117 |
12 |
12 |
93 |
Somewhat liberal |
38 |
4 |
4 |
97 |
Very liberal |
24 |
2 |
2 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
8 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
B10: Supreme Court nomination importance
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Very important |
516 |
51 |
51 |
51 |
Somewhat important |
307 |
30 |
30 |
82 |
Not too important |
138 |
14 |
14 |
95 |
Not at all important |
45 |
4 |
4 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
B11: partisan split of nominations
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Definitely a majority appointed by Democratic presidents |
42 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Probably a majority appointed by Democratic presidents |
203 |
20 |
20 |
24 |
Probably a majority appointed by Republican presidents |
456 |
45 |
45 |
70 |
Definitely a majority appointed by Republican presidents |
304 |
30 |
30 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C1: fav/unfav: Alito
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
393 |
39 |
39 |
39 |
Heard but not enough |
300 |
30 |
30 |
69 |
Favorable opinion |
189 |
19 |
19 |
87 |
Unfavorable opinion |
125 |
12 |
12 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C2: fav/unfav: Barrett
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
213 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
Heard but not enough |
257 |
25 |
25 |
47 |
Favorable opinion |
277 |
27 |
27 |
74 |
Unfavorable opinion |
262 |
26 |
26 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C3: fav/unfav: Breyer
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
434 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
Heard but not enough |
330 |
33 |
33 |
76 |
Favorable opinion |
178 |
18 |
18 |
93 |
Unfavorable opinion |
58 |
6 |
6 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
10 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
C4: fav/unfav: Gorsuch
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
354 |
35 |
35 |
35 |
Heard but not enough |
312 |
31 |
31 |
66 |
Favorable opinion |
208 |
21 |
21 |
87 |
Unfavorable opinion |
132 |
13 |
13 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C5: fav/unfav: Kagan
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
417 |
41 |
41 |
41 |
Heard but not enough |
301 |
30 |
30 |
71 |
Favorable opinion |
210 |
21 |
21 |
92 |
Unfavorable opinion |
80 |
8 |
8 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C6: fav/unfav: Kavanaugh
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
176 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
Heard but not enough |
245 |
24 |
24 |
42 |
Favorable opinion |
264 |
26 |
26 |
68 |
Unfavorable opinion |
322 |
32 |
32 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
3 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C7: fav/unfav: Roberts
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
308 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
Heard but not enough |
260 |
26 |
26 |
56 |
Favorable opinion |
294 |
29 |
29 |
85 |
Unfavorable opinion |
141 |
14 |
14 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
7 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
C8: fav/unfav: Sotomayor
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
256 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
Heard but not enough |
248 |
25 |
25 |
50 |
Favorable opinion |
378 |
37 |
37 |
87 |
Unfavorable opinion |
125 |
12 |
12 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
C9: fav/unfav: Thomas
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Never heard of |
211 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
Heard but not enough |
220 |
22 |
22 |
43 |
Favorable opinion |
322 |
32 |
32 |
74 |
Unfavorable opinion |
254 |
25 |
25 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
D1: fav/unfav: Arizona voting case
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Heard nothing at all |
275 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
Heard of but not enough for an opinion |
265 |
26 |
26 |
53 |
Heard of and favor the decision |
234 |
23 |
23 |
77 |
Heard of and oppose the decision |
231 |
23 |
23 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
5 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
D2: fav/unfav: California donor case
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Heard nothing at all |
406 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
Heard of but not enough for an opinion |
216 |
21 |
21 |
62 |
Heard of and favor the decision |
199 |
20 |
20 |
81 |
Heard of and oppose the decision |
181 |
18 |
18 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
8 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
D3: fav/unfav: school speech case
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Heard nothing at all |
241 |
24 |
24 |
24 |
Heard of but not enough for an opinion |
158 |
16 |
16 |
39 |
Heard of and favor the decision |
529 |
52 |
52 |
92 |
Heard of and oppose the decision |
71 |
7 |
7 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
12 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
D4: fav/unfav: Philadelphia foster-care case
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Heard nothing at all |
364 |
36 |
36 |
36 |
Heard of but not enough for an opinion |
170 |
17 |
17 |
53 |
Heard of and favor the decision |
272 |
27 |
27 |
80 |
Heard of and oppose the decision |
196 |
19 |
19 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
8 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
D5: fav/unfav: ACA case
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Heard nothing at all |
150 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
Heard of but not enough for an opinion |
242 |
24 |
24 |
39 |
Heard of and favor the decision |
423 |
42 |
42 |
81 |
Heard of and oppose the decision |
186 |
18 |
18 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
8 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
D6: fav/unfav: NCAA case
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Heard nothing at all |
338 |
33 |
33 |
33 |
Heard of but not enough for an opinion |
255 |
25 |
25 |
59 |
Heard of and favor the decision |
342 |
34 |
34 |
93 |
Heard of and oppose the decision |
67 |
7 |
7 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
8 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
E1: add justices
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Strongly favor |
122 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
Favor |
364 |
36 |
36 |
48 |
Oppose |
287 |
28 |
28 |
77 |
Strongly oppose |
232 |
23 |
23 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
E2A: justice retirement
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Should consider party in control |
189 |
19 |
39 |
39 |
Should not retire based on party in control |
292 |
29 |
60 |
99 |
Skipped/Ref |
3 |
0 |
1 |
100 |
(Missing) |
525 |
52 |
NA |
NA |
E2B: justice retirement
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Should consider party in control |
149 |
15 |
28 |
28 |
Should not retire based on party in control |
377 |
37 |
72 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
0 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
(Missing) |
485 |
48 |
NA |
NA |
Z1: party ID
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
A Republican |
268 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
A Democrat |
316 |
31 |
31 |
58 |
An independent |
395 |
39 |
39 |
97 |
Something Else (Please type in) |
30 |
3 |
3 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
Z2: party ID, lean
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Democratic party |
243 |
24 |
57 |
57 |
Republican party |
173 |
17 |
41 |
98 |
Skipped/Ref |
9 |
1 |
2 |
100 |
(Missing) |
584 |
58 |
NA |
NA |
Z3: voter registration
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Yes |
849 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
No |
161 |
16 |
16 |
100 |
Z4A: religious service attendance
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
More than once a week |
33 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
Once a week |
98 |
10 |
19 |
25 |
Once or twice a month |
50 |
5 |
9 |
34 |
A few times a year |
60 |
6 |
11 |
46 |
Seldom |
99 |
10 |
19 |
65 |
Never |
185 |
18 |
35 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
(Missing) |
485 |
48 |
NA |
NA |
Z4B: religious service attendance
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
More than once a week |
24 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
Once a week |
85 |
8 |
18 |
23 |
Once or twice a month |
44 |
4 |
9 |
32 |
A few times a year |
47 |
5 |
10 |
41 |
Seldom |
144 |
14 |
30 |
71 |
Never |
141 |
14 |
29 |
100 |
(Missing) |
525 |
52 |
NA |
NA |
Z5: born-again or evangelical
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Yes, would |
268 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
No, would not |
739 |
73 |
73 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
3 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
Z6: political ideology
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Very conservative |
111 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
Conservative |
231 |
23 |
23 |
34 |
Moderate |
366 |
36 |
36 |
70 |
Liberal |
200 |
20 |
20 |
90 |
Very liberal |
99 |
10 |
10 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
Z7: talk to neighbors
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Basically, every day |
116 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
A few times a week |
322 |
32 |
32 |
43 |
A few times a month |
264 |
26 |
26 |
70 |
Once a month |
65 |
6 |
6 |
76 |
Less than once a month |
145 |
14 |
14 |
90 |
Not at all |
96 |
10 |
10 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
Z8: volunteering
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Yes |
284 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
No |
725 |
72 |
72 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
gender
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Male |
479 |
47 |
48 |
48 |
Female |
521 |
52 |
52 |
100 |
Another gender |
3 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
(Missing) |
7 |
1 |
NA |
NA |
age
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
18-29 |
207 |
20 |
20 |
20 |
30-44 |
250 |
25 |
25 |
45 |
45-59 |
241 |
24 |
24 |
69 |
60+ |
312 |
31 |
31 |
100 |
education
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Less than HS |
88 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
HS graduate |
288 |
28 |
28 |
37 |
Vocational/tech school/some college/ associates |
278 |
28 |
28 |
65 |
Bachelor's degree |
177 |
17 |
17 |
82 |
Post grad study/professional degree |
180 |
18 |
18 |
100 |
income
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Less than $30k |
280 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
$30k to less than $50k |
169 |
17 |
17 |
44 |
$50k to less than $75k |
176 |
17 |
17 |
62 |
$75k to less than $100k |
150 |
15 |
15 |
77 |
$100k or more |
159 |
16 |
16 |
92 |
DK/NA/Ref |
76 |
8 |
8 |
100 |
marital status
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Single, that is never married |
217 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
Single, living with a partner |
108 |
11 |
11 |
32 |
Married |
519 |
51 |
51 |
84 |
Separated |
21 |
2 |
2 |
86 |
Widowed |
44 |
4 |
4 |
90 |
Divorced |
102 |
10 |
10 |
100 |
race/ethnicity
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
White Non-Hispanic |
632 |
63 |
63 |
63 |
Black Non-Hispanic |
122 |
12 |
12 |
75 |
Hispanic |
167 |
17 |
17 |
91 |
Other |
82 |
8 |
8 |
99 |
Refused |
6 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
religious affiliation
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
Born-again Protestant |
190 |
19 |
19 |
19 |
Mainline Protestant |
145 |
14 |
14 |
33 |
Roman Catholic |
197 |
20 |
20 |
53 |
No religion |
332 |
33 |
33 |
86 |
Other religion |
142 |
14 |
14 |
100 |
Skipped/Ref |
3 |
0 |
0 |
100 |