Legal Blog
The Turning Tide: How Americans Currently View the Supreme Court
Not too shocking: about half of Americans’ ratings of the Supreme Court are now as negative as – and more politically polarized than – at any point in three decades.
According to the Pew Research Center’s report published September 1, the share of Democrats or Democrat-leaning participants who say they have a favorable opinion of the Court has dropped from 67% in 2020 to 28% in August 2022. Almost half of the respondents indicated their belief that the Court has too much power. In contrast, Republican and Republican-leaning approval ratings were very similar to 2020 at over 70%.
The justices were once proud to say that they are apolitical, citing the fact that many of their decisions are unanimous, 8-1, or 7-2. But the percentage of those opinions dropped from 49% in 2016 to 28% in 2022, according to the authoritative empirical SCOTUS blog.
I have been to the Supreme Court twice: once in 2015 and once in 2019. Our 2015 opinion was unanimously decided, and in 2019, the Court declined to review the lower court’s decision. This indicates – from my very small sample – cohesive views. Pew’s survey was much larger. It polled 7,647 adults, including 5,681 registered voters, from Aug. 1-14, 2022, using a national, random sampling of residential addresses.
What do you think? Has the 6-3 “conservative” majority been that divisive? And isn’t it sad that we now commonly refer to the “factions” as “conservative” and “liberal”?
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For over 25 years, Katherine has provided her clients with robust representation in matters of employment and related business law. Katherine represents and counsels employers and executives in all facets of the employment relationship, including hiring, termination, discrimination, non-competition, Fair Labor Standards Act matters, issues regarding Family and Medical Leave and other leaves, whistleblowers’ complaints, and regulatory matters. As a litigator, she is well aware of the nuances of law necessary to draft effective restrictive covenants, severance agreements, and employment contracts. Along with her over 250 colleagues, she represents companies and non-profit organizations of all sizes. She has defended companies under investigation by both U.S. and state Departments of Labor and handled multiple matters before the EEOC.
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