Only one in four Americans say they are confident in the Supreme Court—the lowest rate on record—according to a Gallup poll released Thursday, with respondents answering the question in the weeks leading up to the court’s much-anticipated decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade.
KEY FACTS
Only 25% of U.S. adults said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the Supreme Court, down from 36% compared to last year, according to Gallup.
It’s also five percentage points lower than the 30% confidence rate recorded in 2014, which was previously the lowest for the Supreme Court and coincided with an overall drop of confidence in U.S. institutions, with an average of only 31% respondents reporting confidence.
Many U.S. government institutions suffered a decline in confidence this year, according to Gallup, but the study noted that the public’s 11-point confidence drop in the Supreme Court is about double that of other organizations during the same time frame.
While confidence in the Supreme Court fell by double digits compared to a year ago among both Democrats (30% to 13%) and independents (40% to 25%) this year, Republicans’ confidence in the court increased, but only slightly (37% to 39%).
The results are based on Gallup’s telephone interviews of 1,015 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia between June 1 and June 20.