Trust in Supreme Court drops to record low in new poll

Public trust in The Supreme Court is at a record low, with more than half of Americans disapproving of the nation's highest court since its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, a new survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania showed.

The survey, conducted from July 12 to August 12, found that 56 percent of Americans disapprove somewhat of the court, saying they either trust it "a little" or "not at all."

According to the survey, earlier data showed that trust in the highest court sharply decreased after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, from 68 percent in 2019 to 46 percent in 2022.

As of August, overall support for it sits at 44 percent, which is one percentage point down from May, according to the data. Eight percent expressed "a great deal" of trust, eleven percent said they had "a lot" of trust and 25 percent had "a moderate amount" of trust that the court would act in the best interest of people like them.

The survey also found that an increasing number of Americans are saying that they have no trust in the court. In August, 34 percent said "not at all" when asked if they trust if the court will act in the best interest of people like them, which is up from the 30 percent who said the same a few months earlier in May.

While overall trust declined by one percentage point from May to August, trust in the court among Republicans slightly increased, from 69 percent to 71 percent. For Democrats, it decreased from 29 percent to 24 percent. It held steady at 41 percent for independents.

Additionally, data showed that support for the court dropped in key swing states. Surveyors interviewed the same set of respondents in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin since 2021, and the data showed that since then, it has seen "a dramatic decline in the public's view of the court," mostly from Democrats and independents.

The survey from July 12 to August 12 was conducted among a sample of 1,395 adult U.S. citizens. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Data collection for the national panel was conducted from May 1 to 23 with a sample of 1,620 adult U.S. citizens. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.