Americans' Approval Of US Supreme Court Dips Below 50% - Poll

Forty-nine percent of Americans approve of the job the US Supreme Court is doing, down nine percentage points from a year ago and the first drop below majority approval since 2017, a new Gallup poll revealed on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2021) Forty-nine percent of Americans approve of the job the US Supreme Court is doing, down nine percentage points from a year ago and the first drop below majority approval since 2017, a new Gallup poll revealed on Wednesday.

"The new reading comes from a July 6-21 Gallup poll, conducted after an eventful Supreme Court term featuring a 6-3 conservative majority since the confirmation last fall of Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg," a press release explaining the poll said.

The term featured a series of mixed rulings, including a rejection of a challenge to the Affordable Care Act; a ruling upholding an Arizona election law; a decision that allowed a Catholic social service agency to participate in a foster care program even if it refused to consider same-sex couples; and an extension of free speech rights for students to social media posts, the release noted.

In addition to the 49 percent of US adults who approve of the Supreme Court's job, 44 percent disapprove and 7 percent express no opinion, the release said.

Since Gallup began polling on the Supreme Court in 2000, more Americans have approved than disapproved of the way the Supreme Court was handling its job, albeit with approval averaging a slim 52 percent majority, the release added.

When Gallup first asked the Supreme Court job approval question in 2000, a record 62 percent approved. The margin narrowed in subsequent years but remained in positive territory, according to Gallup.

From 2013 and 2017 opinion was more evenly divided or net-negative. Since then, ratings have been improved although the 49 percent rating in the latest poll is down from 58 percent a year ago, Gallup said.

Results are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,007 adults, ages 18 and above living in all 50 US states and Washington, DC. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.