Americans’ view of the Supreme Court is at a historic low but up slightly from last year, according to results released Thursday from a Pew Research Center poll.
Forty-seven percent of respondents have a favorable view of the high court, up three points from last year when only 44% had a positive outlook.
The slight uptick comes after the justices issued major rulings in favor of former President Donald Trump on his claim that presidents have immunity from prosecutions and let him stay on the ballot over challenges from liberal advocates.
The justices also sided with Jan. 6 defendants contesting a felony obstruction charge used by prosecutors, and struck a blow to the administrative state in a number of decisions.
The court’s favorability rating is down 23% since 2020, and more respondents view the bench as conservative.
In 2020, 56% of Americans said the court was middle of the road, while 30% viewed it as conservative.
In Pew’s latest results, 48% viewed the court as conservative.
The 6-3 conservative majority has been criticized by Democrats as skirting judicial ethics, with liberal lawmakers claiming the court is threatening constitutional rights.
Since the high court overruled the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that gave women a national right to abortion, favorability from Democrats has plummeted.
In 2021, two-thirds of Democrats viewed the high court favorably. After the 49-year abortion precedent was overruled in 2022, just 24% of Democrats like the court.
The survey polled 9,424 U.S. adults from July 1-7. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.3%.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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