Nov. 30, 2022

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Please note: Complete Poll results and methodology information can be found online at law.marquette.edu/poll

MILWAUKEE – 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’s Health, the decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade, which had permitted abortion nationwide. The trend in approval of the Court since 2020 is shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages; the precise wording of the questions can be found in the online link noted above.)

Table 1: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job?

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

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.

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.

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.

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’t heard anything about such a case or haven’t heard not enough to have an opinion.

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. Those saying they haven’t heard or haven’t heard enough increased over the summer, from 33% in March to 50% in September. Table 2 (a) shows views including those who have not heard enough about the issue, and Table 2 (b) shows the percentages for only those with an opinion.

Table 2: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t 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.

(a) Among all respondents

Poll dates	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
9/7-16/21	33	53	13
3/14-24/22	33	49	17
9/7-14/22	50	37	13
11/15-22/22	42	41	16

(b) Among those with an opinion

Poll dates	Favor	Oppose
9/7-16/21	81	19
3/14-24/22	75	25
9/7-14/22	74	26
11/15-22/22	72	28

While large percentages say they haven’t 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) shows views including those who have not heard enough about the issue, and Table 3 (b) shows the percentages for only those with an opinion.

Table 3: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t 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.

• Among all respondents

Race & ethnicity	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
White	38	45	16
Black	52	27	21
Hispanic	49	37	13
Other/Multiple	43	48	9

(b) Among those with an opinion

Race & ethnicity	Favor	Oppose
White	73	27
Black	56	44
Hispanic	74	26
Other/Multiple	84	16

The margins favoring an end to allowing race as a factor in admissions are larger among those who see racism as less of a problem in the country today than among those who see racism as a bigger problem. Yet even those who say racism is a very big problem more favor ending the consideration of race in admissions than continuing its use. Among those with an opinion on this case, majorities in each group also favor ending the consideration of race in admissions, as shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t 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 view of how big a problem is racism.

• Among all respondents

How big a problem is racism	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
A very big problem	49	27	23
A moderately big problem	43	41	15
A small problem/not a problem at all	32	60	8

• Among those with an opinion

How big a problem is racism	Favor	Oppose
A very big problem	54	46
A moderately big problem	73	27
A small problem/not a problem at all	88	12

There are substantial partisan differences on this issue, but, within every partisan group, more favor ending the consideration of race than support its continued use, as shown in Table 5

Table 5: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t 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 party identification.

(a) Among all respondents

Party ID	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
Republican	37	54	9
Lean Republican	27	61	11
Independent	52	34	14
Lean Democrat	48	36	16
Democrat	46	29	25

(b) Among those with an opinion

Party ID	Favor	Oppose
Republican	86	14
Lean Republican	85	15
Independent	70	30
Lean Democrat	69	31
Democrat	53	47

Another case set for argument on Dec. 5, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, poses the question whether the religious beliefs or free speech rights of business owners can justify refusing to provide some services to LGBTQ customers. Among those surveyed in this national Marquette poll, a plurality, 40%, oppose allowing a business to refuse services, while 25% favor a ruling that would permit a business to do this. As with college admissions, a substantial group, 35% in this instance, has not heard of this case or has not heard enough to have an opinion. The trend in opinion on this question is shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? Decide that a business owner’s religious beliefs or free speech rights can justify refusing some services to gay people.

(a) Among all respondents

Poll dates	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
3/14-24/22	29	28	43
9/7-14/22	44	21	35
11/15-22/22	35	25	40

(b) Among those with an opinion

Poll dates	Heard of and favor	Heard of and oppose
3/14-24/22	39	61
9/7-14/22	37	63
11/15-22/22	39	61

Those who favor the Court’s 2015 decision finding a constitutional right to same-sex marriage are strongly opposed to allowing businesses to refuse services, while those who oppose same-sex marriage favor allowing businesses to choose not to provide services, as shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? Decide that a business owner’s religious beliefs or free speech rights can justify refusing some services to gay people. By opinion of same-sex marriage ruling.

(a) Among all respondents

Opinion on same sex marriage ruling	Heard nothing/not heard enough	Favor	Oppose
Favor	35	15	50
Oppose	34	53	13

(b) Among those with an opinion

Favor/oppose same sex marriage ruling	Favor the possible decision	Oppose the possible decision
Favor	23	77
Oppose	80	20

Those who identify as born-again Protestants are strongly in favor of allowing businesses to deny services, but mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, members of other religions, and those with no religion are opposed to allowing businesses to choose not to serve gay or lesbian customers, shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? Decide that a business owner’s religious beliefs or free speech rights can justify refusing some services to gay people. By religion.

(a) Among all respondents

Religion	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
Born-again Protestant	40	44	16
Mainline Protestant	34	25	41
Roman Catholic	39	22	39
No religion	28	17	55
Other religion	35	24	40

(b) Among those with an opinion

Religion	Favor the possible decision	Oppose the possible decision
Born-again Protestant	73	27
Mainline Protestant	38	62
Roman Catholic	35	65
No religion	23	77
Other religion	38	62

On Dec. 7, 2022, the Court will hear arguments in Moore v. Harper, addressing the “independent state legislature” theory, which holds that, under the Constitution, only the state legislature has the power to regulate congressional elections in a state, and that state courts cannot overturn or revise the legislature’s decisions.

Most respondents (70%) have not heard anything or have not heard enough to have an opinion about this case, while 7% favor a ruling that state legislatures have sole authority and 22% oppose holding state courts to be without authority to alter the legislatures’ decisions.

Among those who do have an opinion on this case, 25% favor the independent power of legislatures, while 75% are opposed to this view of legislative authority.

These results are shown in Table 9. This is the first time this question has been asked.

Table 9: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? Rule that under the Constitution, the state legislatures have the power to regulate federal elections and are not subject to review by state courts.

(a) Among all respondents

Poll dates	Heard nothing/not enough	Favor	Oppose
11/15-22/22	70	7	22

(b) Among those with an opinion

Poll dates	Favor the possible decision	Oppose the possible decision
11/15-22/22	25	75

The independent state legislature theory is not well known, as the fact of 70% saying they’ve not heard enough to have an opinion attests. Of those with an opinion, Republicans are closely divided, with 55% in favor of and 45% opposed to this view of legislative authority. Among independents with an opinion, 9% favor and 91% oppose ruling for expansive legislative authority, while among Democrats with an opinion 22% favor and 78% oppose such a ruling.

Prior decisions

In the current survey, 33% favor the June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, while 66% oppose that ruling.

Previous Marquette polls have also found a majority opposed to overturning Roe among those who had heard enough to have an opinion. This trend is shown in Table 10. The question wording in the November poll does not invite respondents to say if they haven’t heard enough, while previous polls included that invitation. Among those who had heard enough, the responses were quite similar to the results with the current wording.

Table 10: Favor or oppose overturning Roe v. Wade in past surveys. Among those with an opinion.

Poll dates	Heard of and favor the decision	Heard of and oppose the decision
9/7-16/21	28	72
11/1-10/21	30	70
1/10-21/22	28	72
3/14-24/22	32	68
5/9-19/22	31	69
7/5-12/22	36	64
9/7-14/22	33	67

A majority of the public favors the June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which established a right to possess a gun outside the home, with 64% in favor of that decision and 35% opposed.

Support for this ruling, among those with an opinion, was consistently high prior to the decision in June, as shown in Table 11. As with the abortion decision above, the question wording in the November poll does not invite respondents to say if they haven’t heard enough, while previous polls included that invitation.

Table 11: Favor or oppose ruling that Second Amendment protects right to possess a gun outside the home. Among those with an opinion.

Poll dates	Heard of and favor the decision	Heard of and oppose the decision
9/7-16/21	63	37
11/1-10/21	65	35
1/10-21/22	67	33
3/14-24/22	63	37
5/9-19/22	66	34
7/5-12/22	56	44
9/7-14/22	57	43

Looking back to earlier decisions, a substantial majority favor the Court’s 2015 ruling establishing a right to same-sex marriage, 72%, while 28% are opposed. This trend is shown in Table 12.

Table 12: In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Poll dates	Favor	Oppose
5/9-19/22	69	31
7/5-12/22	66	34
9/7-14/22	71	29
11/15-22/22	72	28

The public also strongly favors the Court’s 2020 ruling the federal law protects LGBTQ workers from employment discrimination, with 83% in favor of that decision and 17% opposed. The trend on this is shown in Table 13.

Table 13: In 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that a federal civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Poll dates	Favor	Oppose
5/9-19/22	83	16
7/5-12/22	84	16
9/7-14/22	87	12
11/15-22/22	83	17

The public is evenly divided on the Court’s 2019 decision that federal courts have no role in adjudicating challenges to partisan gerrymandering. That ruling is favored by 52% and is opposed by 47%.

Perceptions of the ideology of the Court

The perceived ideology of the Court has moved in the conservative direction since 2019, with 61% in November 2022 saying the Court is very conservative or conservative, compared to 38% in September 2019. The percentage seeing the Court as moderate has decreased from 50% in 2019 to 32% in November 2022. The full trend is shown in Table 14.

Table 14: In general, would you describe each of the following as very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal or very liberal? The Supreme Court

Poll dates	Very conservative	Somewhat conservative	Moderate	Somewhat liberal	Very liberal
9/3-13/19	5	33	50	9	3
9/8-15/20	5	30	54	9	2
7/16-26/21	13	37	42	6	1
9/7-16/21	16	35	40	7	2
11/1-10/21	15	35	39	8	1
1/10-21/22	17	38	35	8	2
3/14-24/22	15	37	36	10	2
5/9-19/22	23	33	34	8	2
7/5-12/22	34	33	21	7	3
9/7-14/22	29	35	27	5	3
11/15-22/22	25	36	32	6	2

Knowledge of the Court

The public varies widely in awareness of the Court and of its decisions. One measure of this is knowledge of which party’s president appointed the majority of the Court. Table 15 shows how this awareness of the makeup of the Court has varied since 2019. Given the prominence of appointments and debates about the Court, it is notable that only a bit more than a third are certain that the majority of justices were appointed by Republicans. On the other hand, nearly three-quarters think that Republican appointees are probably or definitely the majority. The remaining quarter are incorrect as to the majority.

Table 15: What is your guess as to whether a majority of the current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents?

Poll dates	Definitely/Probably Dem majority	Probably Rep majority	Definitely Rep majority
9/3-13/19	27	53	19
9/8-15/20	28	51	21
7/16-26/21	24	45	30
9/7-16/21	25	46	29
11/1-10/21	28	44	28
1/10-21/22	23	44	33
3/14-24/22	28	47	24
5/9-19/22	31	39	31
7/5-12/22	20	40	40
9/7-14/22	22	40	37
11/15-22/22	24	40	35

Partisans differ somewhat in their awareness of the Court’s majority, with Republicans more likely than Democrats or independents to think that Democratic appointees form the majority and less certain that their own party appointed the majority. In contrast, Democrats are the most likely to correctly identify the Court majority as Republican appointees.

Table 16: What is your guess as to whether a majority of the current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents? By party identification

(a) In all surveys since 2019

Party ID	Definitely/Probably Dem majority	Probably Rep majority	Definitely Rep majority
Republican	30	47	22
Lean Republican	28	49	23
Independent	34	46	19
Lean Democrat	16	47	36
Democrat	20	40	39

(b) In November 2022 survey only

Party ID	Definitely/Probably Dem majority	Probably Rep majority	Definitely Rep majority
Republican	27	43	30
Lean Republican	26	43	31
Independent	35	43	20
Lean Democrat	18	43	39
Democrat	18	34	48

Knowledge of the party of the presidents appointing a majority is also related to knowledge of and ability to give a favorable or unfavorable rating for each justice. Table 17 shows the relationship.

Table 17: Number of justices known well enough for respondent to give favorability rating, by knowledge of the Court majority (pooling 2019-2022 surveys)

Know party of the presidents appointing a majority	Median	Mean	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Definitely/Probably Dem majority	1	2.4	42	15	10	7	6	6	4	4	2	5
Probably Rep majority	3	3.7	22	11	11	11	9	8	8	6	5	8
Definitely Rep majority	7	5.9	10	5	6	6	7	10	9	11	11	24

While there are partisan differences in knowledge of the Court majority (i.e., of the party of the presidents who appointed a majority), there are only small differences in knowledge of the justices, with the exception of independents who do not lean (to either party), a group that is also less involved in politics generally.

Table 18: Number of justices known well enough for respondent to give favorability rating, by party identification (pooling 2019-2022 surveys)

Party ID	Median	Mean	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Republican	4	4.0	23	11	9	8	8	10	7	7	6	11
Lean Republican	4	4.1	27	10	10	9	8	8	7	7	5	10
Independent	1	2.8	42	13	7	8	5	5	5	3	4	8
Lean Democrat	4	4.2	23	8	9	10	8	9	9	6	7	11
Democrat	4	4.5	17	11	10	9	9	8	8	9	7	13

Author of Dobbs

Few cases in recent decades have received the attention given to the Dobbs decision. One would not imagine that the general public is often aware of which justice authors individual opinions, but given the prominence of this decision, the question seemed worth asking.

Among all respondents, 25% correctly identified Justice Samuel Alito as the author of the opinion for the Court, with 25% incorrectly saying Justice Clarence Thomas was the author. Thomas wrote a concurring opinion. The full set of responses is shown in Table 19. Respondents were asked to “just give your best guess” if they weren’t sure. Note that if respondents simply guessed randomly, we would expect about 11% to pick each justice. Only Chief Justice John Roberts exceeds this “guessing rate,” and by only a single percentage point. The three dissenting justices are all chosen by 6% or less.

Table 19: Which justice wrote the Supreme Court’s opinion in the Dobbs case, this past June, overturning the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that had made abortion legal in all 50 states?

Response	Percent
Samuel Alito	25
Amy Coney Barrett	9
Stephen Breyer	6
Neil Gorsuch	5
Elena Kagan	2
Brett Kavanaugh	11
John Roberts	12
Sonia Sotomayor	5
Clarence Thomas	25

Here, knowledge of the Court majority appointment clearly plays a role in awareness of the author. Table 20 shows presumed author by this knowledge. Among those who erroneously believe the Court majority were appointed by Democratic presidents, or who think a majority were appointed by Republicans but aren’t sure, more think Thomas was the author than think Alito. But among those who are (correctly) sure there is a Republican-appointed majority, 43% say Alito, and 23% say Thomas. While this is not a majority, there is a clear progression of knowledge of the Dobbs authorship in line with general knowledge of the Court.

Table 20: Which justice wrote the Supreme Court’s opinion in the Dobbs case, this past June, overturning the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that had made abortion legal in all 50 states? By knowledge of which party’s presidents appointed a Court majority

Knowledge of majority	Samuel Alito	Amy Coney Barrett	Stephen Breyer	Neil Gorsuch	Elena Kagan	Brett Kavanaugh	John Roberts	Sonia Sotomayor	Clarence Thomas
Definitely/Probably Dem majority	13	14	8	4	2	12	15	13	19
Probably Rep majority	17	8	7	7	2	14	11	4	31
Definitely Rep majority	43	6	3	3	1	8	11	1	23

A large share of the public says it has “heard a lot” about the Court’s Dobbs decision, and this has remained at high levels since July, as shown in Table 21.

Table 21: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? A Supreme Court decision on abortion.

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
7/5-12/22	81	15	3
9/7-14/22	84	13	3
11/15-22/22	76	20	3

In contrast with the abortion ruling, the amount of news that respondents have heard concerning the Second Amendment ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen has decreased substantially since July, as shown in Table 22.

Table 22: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? A Supreme Court decision on the right to possess a gun outside the home.

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
7/5-12/22	47	36	16
9/7-14/22	31	48	21
11/15-22/22	25	47	28

Much of the public says it has heard little or nothing about the pending cases concerning consideration of race in college admissions. Arguments were heard on Oct. 31.

Table 23: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? A Supreme Court case concerning the use of race in college admissions.

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
11/15-22/22	20	45	34

Awareness of issues before the Court, or recently decided cases, thus varies considerably depending on the topic. For further comparison, awareness of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is shown in Table 24 (a), and awareness of the Jan. 6th committee hearings is shown in Table 24 (b).

Table 24: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the hearings of the House Select Committee on January 6th.

(a) Russian invasion of Ukraine

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
11/15-22/22	70	23	7

(b) January 6th committee hearings

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
7/5-12/22	43	38	19
9/7-14/22	52	31	18
11/15-22/22	43	37	19

The public has come to think that the Court should pay more attention to public opinion in reaching its decisions than was the case in September 2020, when 44% said the Court should consider public opinion and 55% said it should not. In the current survey, two years later, 61% say public opinion should be considered and 39% say it should not be considered. The trend is shown in Table 25.

Table 25: Should justices of the Supreme Court consider public opinion about a case when making decisions or should they ignore public opinion?

Poll dates	Should consider public opinion	Should ignore public opinion
9/8-15/20	44	55
9/7-16/21	41	59
7/5-12/22	54	46
9/7-14/22	61	39
11/15-22/22	61	39

Support for increasing the size of the Supreme Court has been narrowly divided for some time. In September, a slight majority favored adding justices, but in November, the slight majority favors keeping the current number of justices.

Table 26: How much do you favor or oppose a proposal to increase the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?

Poll dates	Strongly favor	Somewhat favor	Somewhat oppose	Strongly oppose
9/3-13/19	8	35	39	17
9/8-15/20	10	36	39	14
7/16-26/21	12	36	28	23
9/7-16/21	16	32	20	31
11/1-10/21	15	33	23	29
7/5-12/22	17	32	22	29
9/7-14/22	18	33	20	29
11/15-22/22	13	34	25	28

Confidence in the Court and other institutions

Confidence in the Court has declined since 2019, when 37% had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence. That declined to 30% who have similar confidence in November 2022. Those with very little or no confidence increased from 20% in September 2019 to 33% in November 2022. The full trend is shown in Table 27.

Table 27: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? The U.S. Supreme Court.

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/3-13/19	8	29	42	16	4
9/8-15/20	12	28	45	13	3
7/5-12/22	9	19	28	28	16
9/7-14/22	10	20	34	26	10
11/15-22/22	8	22	36	23	10

Respondents were also surveyed on confidence in the state supreme court where they live (or the highest court in the state). Results for confidence in their state’s highest court are not much different than for confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court, although more people pick the middle category of “some confidence.” Views of state courts have not changed much since 2019, as shown in Table 28.

Table 28: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? Your state Supreme Court or highest court in your state

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/3-13/19	5	27	46	17	5
9/8-15/20	8	27	47	14	4
9/7-14/22	8	27	45	15	6
11/15-22/22	9	27	40	17	7

The most common view of Congress is “some” confidence, at 43%. Few respondents express “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress, a combined 17%. While this is a long-running finding, there has been a small decline in those with “very little” or no confidence at all, as shown in Table 29.

Table 29: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? Congress

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/3-13/19	2	8	39	38	13
9/8-15/20	3	10	42	35	10
7/5-12/22	3	7	35	40	16
9/7-14/22	4	12	37	35	12
11/15-22/22	3	14	43	29	11

Confidence in state legislatures is slightly better than for Congress. Twenty-eight percent say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in their legislature, compared to just 17% saying the same of Congress. Thirty percent say they have little or no confidence in their legislatures versus 40% who say the same of Congress. As with Congress, the most common response to legislatures is “some” confidence, at 42%, shown in Table 30.

Table 30: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? Your state legislature

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
11/15-22/22	4	24	42	23	7

Confidence in the presidency is shown in Table 31. The percentage with no confidence has declined since 2020, with some increase in the “some confidence” category, and modest fluctuations in the other categories.

Table 31: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? The Presidency

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/3-13/19	13	15	25	22	24
9/8-15/20	15	16	23	20	25
7/5-12/22	6	14	31	30	18
9/7-14/22	13	20	29	24	14
11/15-22/22	12	18	33	23	14

Views of two law enforcement institutions, the police and the FBI, are similar, but partisan differences are pronounced. Table 32 shows confidence in the police and Table 33 reflects confidence in the FBI, which is not as high as for the police.

Table 32: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? The police

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/8-15/20	20	29	32	12	6
9/7-14/22	21	30	28	14	6
11/15-22/22	18	31	30	15	7

Table 33: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? The FBI

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/7-14/22	19	25	30	16	10
11/15-22/22	13	27	34	17	11

Partisan views are distinct concerning the police and the FBI. Republicans are more positive to the police and less so to the FBI, while Democrats are more positive to the FBI and less positive to the police, as shown in Table 34.

 

 

Table 34: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? The police, the FBI by party identification

(a) The police, by party identification

Party ID	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
Republican	35	37	20	7	1
Independent	9	28	33	18	11
Democrat	14	28	36	16	6

(b) The FBI, by party identification

Party ID	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
Republican	9	19	30	25	16
Independent	9	23	37	18	12
Democrat	21	37	32	7	3

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The survey was conducted Nov. 15-22, 2022, interviewing 1,004 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.7 percentage points. Interviews were conducted using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a national probability sample with interviews conducted online. The detailed methodology statement, survey instrument, topline results, and crosstabs for this release are available on the Marquette Law School Poll website. Some items from this survey (more generally about political topics) are held for a separate release tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022).

Wording of questions about future and past Supreme Court decisions: These items do not attempt to exactly frame the particular issues in specific cases but rather address the topic in more general terms.

The wording of questions about cases before the Court in the October 2022 Term include:

Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t 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.
• Rule that a business owner’s religious beliefs or free speech rights can justify refusing some services to gay people.
• Rule that under the Constitution, the state legislatures have the power to regulate federal elections and are not subject to review by state courts.

The wording of questions about previous decisions include:

Opinion of Dobbs decisions, striking down Roe v. Wade

• In 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, thus striking down the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Opinion of ruling that the Second Amendment protects the right to possess a gun outside the home

• In 2022 the Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” protects the right to carry a gun outside the home. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Opinion on ruling the federal courts have no role in adjudicating challenges to gerrymandering

• In 2019 the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts had no role to play in adjudicating challenges to partisan gerrymandering, leaving this to state courts. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Opinion of same-sex marriage decision:

• In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Opinion of decision that anti-discrimination laws protect LGBTQ people:

In 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that a federal civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

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About Kevin Conway

Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.