{"id":2760,"date":"2022-11-30T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/poll\/?p=2760"},"modified":"2022-11-30T05:00:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T11:00:19","slug":"mlspsc11-court-press-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/poll\/2022\/11\/30\/mlspsc11-court-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"New Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds small rebound in approval of U.S. Supreme Court, continued opposition to use of race as a factor in college admissions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MILWAUKEE \u2013 A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds 44% of adults approve of the job the U.S. Supreme Court is doing, while 56% disapprove. In September, 40% approved and 60% disapproved. Approval declined sharply between July and September 2021, then fell further in May 2022 following the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health<\/em>, the decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade<\/em>, which had permitted abortion nationwide.<\/em> The trend in approval of the Court since 2020 is shown in Table 1<\/a>. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages; the precise wording of the questions can be found in the online link noted above.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 1: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poll dates<\/strong><\/td>Approve<\/strong><\/td>Disapprove<\/strong><\/td>Skipped\/Ref<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
9\/8-15\/20<\/td>66<\/td>33<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
7\/16-26\/21<\/td>60<\/td>39<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
9\/7-16\/21<\/td>49<\/td>50<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
11\/1-10\/21<\/td>54<\/td>46<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
1\/10-21\/22<\/td>52<\/td>46<\/td>2<\/td><\/tr>
3\/14-24\/22<\/td>54<\/td>45<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
5\/9-19\/22<\/td>44<\/td>55<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
7\/5-12\/22<\/td>38<\/td>61<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
9\/7-14\/22<\/td>40<\/td>60<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr>
11\/15-22\/22<\/td>44<\/td>56<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Approval of the Court is quite high among Republicans, among whom 70% approve and 30% disapprove. Among independents, however, 40% approve and 60% disapprove. Among Democrats, 28% approve and 72% disapprove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest Marquette Law School Supreme Court Survey was conducted Nov. 15-22, 2022. The survey interviewed 1,004 adults nationwide and has a margin of error of +\/-3.7 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the current term, the Court will hear cases on whether race may be considered in college admissions, whether religious beliefs and free speech rights entitle businesses to deny some services to LGTBQ customers, and how states can set the rules for federal elections, among other cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marquette survey finds that the public is skeptical of the use of race in college admissions, with 41% in favor of a decision that would find a legal ban on the use of race and 16% opposed. The case is not yet on the top of mind for most respondents, however, with 42% saying they haven\u2019t heard anything about such a case or haven\u2019t heard not enough to have an opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marquette polling since September 2021 has shown a consistent opposition among the public to the use of race in admissions, as shown in Table 2<\/a>. Those saying they haven\u2019t heard or haven\u2019t heard enough increased over the summer, from 33% in March to 50% in September. Table 2 (a)<\/a> shows views including those who have not heard enough about the issue, and Table 2 (b)<\/a> shows the percentages for only those with an opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 2: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven\u2019t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? Rule that colleges cannot use race as one of several factors in deciding which applicants to admit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>(a) Among all respondents<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poll dates<\/strong><\/td>Heard nothing\/not enough<\/strong><\/td>Favor<\/strong><\/td>Oppose<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
9\/7-16\/21<\/td>33<\/td>53<\/td>13<\/td><\/tr>
3\/14-24\/22<\/td>33<\/td>49<\/td>17<\/td><\/tr>
9\/7-14\/22<\/td>50<\/td>37<\/td>13<\/td><\/tr>
11\/15-22\/22<\/td>42<\/td>41<\/td>16<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(b) Among those with an opinion<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poll dates<\/strong><\/td>Favor<\/strong><\/td>Oppose<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
9\/7-16\/21<\/td>81<\/td>19<\/td><\/tr>
3\/14-24\/22<\/td>75<\/td>25<\/td><\/tr>
9\/7-14\/22<\/td>74<\/td>26<\/td><\/tr>
11\/15-22\/22<\/td>72<\/td>28<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While large percentages say they haven\u2019t heard enough about the college admissions case, more respondents within each race and ethnic group favor banning use of race as a factor in admissions than think consideration of race should continue to be permitted. Table 3 (a)<\/a> shows views including those who have not heard enough about the issue, and Table 3 (b)<\/a> shows the percentages for only those with an opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 3: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven\u2019t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? Rule that colleges cannot use race as one of several factors in deciding which applicants to admit. By race of the respondent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n