Courts

The Supreme Court’s Sinking Popularity

And it's just about the only thing we can agree on in this country.

By Kathryn Rubino on August 02, 2021 12:12 pm

According to a new Gallup poll, only 49 percent of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing. The poll was taken after the most recent Term, Amy Coney Barrett’s first on the Court. Last year, the Court’s approval rating was 58 percent, which is quite the difference.

In addition to the 49 percent that approve of the Court, 44 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the job Supreme Court’s doing, while 7 percent said they had no opinion. This is a lower approval than the historic averages, and the lowest approval in four years:

For most of Gallup’s trend, dating back to 2000, more Americans have approved than disapproved of the way the Supreme Court was handling its job, with approval usually above the majority, averaging 52%.

But the interesting part is that this lower approval rating is uniform betwixt political parties:

Americans give the Supreme Court its lowest job approval rating in four years. But unlike in 2017, when wide party gaps in ratings of the court drove its approval below 50%, today Republicans and Democrats view it similarly. Bare majorities of both parties approve of the high court, perhaps because it has handed down rulings that have alternately pleased and frustrated both sides of the ideological spectrum.

So, basically the only thing Democrats and Republicans agree on is that the Supreme Court isn’t doing a great job. Yay?

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).