by
Collection
of
the
Supreme
Court
of
the
United
States
via
Getty
Images
NBC
News
has
a
new
poll
out
about
the
Supreme
Court
and,
well…
remember
when
we
thought
the
Court’s
public
legitimacy
crisis
had
probably
bottomed
out
already?
Yeah.
About
that….
According
to
the
latest
national
poll,
just
22%
of
respondents
say
they
have
a
“great
deal”
or
“quite
a
bit”
of
confidence
in
the
Supreme
Court.
Another
40%
say
they
have
only
“some”
confidence,
while
38%
say
they
have
“very
little”
or
“no”
confidence
at
all.
That
22%
figure
is
the
lowest
confidence
rating
yet
for
the
Court
in
NBC’s
polling.
Which
is
impressive
in
the
worst
possible
way
considering
how
many
opportunities
this
Court
has
had
to
crater
public
trust.
The
Court’s
confidence
problem
didn’t
appear
overnight.
The
institution’s
public
standing
has
been
on
a
slow
downward
trajectory
for
decades,
ever
since
the
Court
decided
to
step
squarely
into
partisan
politics.
Many
observers
trace
the
modern
crisis
back
to
the
Court’s
intervention
in
the
Bush
v.
Gore
decision
in
2000,
which
effectively
decided
the
presidential
election.
Before
that
decision,
52%
of
Americans
reported
having
a
“great
deal”
or
“quite
a
bit”
of
confidence
in
the
Court.
That
was
the
high-water
mark.
Since
then,
the
Roberts
Court
era
has
been
defined
by
increasingly
ideological
rulings,
something
the
public
has
noticed.
When
the
Court’s
decision
in
Dobbs
v.
Jackson
Women’s
Health
Organization
came
down
in
2022,
eliminating
the
constitutional
right
to
abortion
and
overturning
Roe
v.
Wade,
confidence
in
the
Court
took
a
pretty
big
hit.
In
the
immediate
aftermath
of
Dobbs,
only
27%
of
voters
said
they
had
a
great
deal
or
quite
a
bit
of
confidence
in
the
Court.
And
somehow
the
numbers
have
gotten
even
worse.
This
topline
number
is
bad,
but
the
party
breakdown
reveals
even
deeper
issues.
Among
Democrats,
just
9%
say
they
have
a
great
deal
or
quite
a
bit
of
confidence
in
the
Court.
Republicans
are
more
supportive,
natch,
but
not
exactly
thrilled.
Only
35%
of
Republicans
say
they
have
a
high
degree
of
confidence
in
the
Court.
Think
about
that
for
a
second.
This
is
a
Court
where
Donald
Trump
appointed
three
justices
and
currently
enjoys
an
84%
win
rate
when
his
cases
reach
the
Supreme
Court.
By
any
objective
measure,
the
modern
Court
is
extraordinarily
favorable
terrain
for
the
conservative
legal
movement.
And
even
then,
only
about
a
third
of
Republicans
express
strong
confidence
in
the
institution.
That’s
how
deep
the
legitimacy
hole
is.
As
Democratic
pollster
Jeff
Horwitt
of
Hart
Research
Associates,
who
conducted
the
survey
alongside
Republican
pollster
Bill
McInturff
of
Public
Opinion
Strategies,
put
it:
“It’s
one
thing
to
make
controversial
rulings
that
one
party
may
or
may
not
like
but
maintain
respect
and
confidence.
What
we
are
seeing
is
quite
the
opposite,
where
the
court
is
making
controversial
rulings
but
not
being
respected
and
in
fact
confidence
is
being
eroded.”
This
downward
trajectory
should
feel
familiar,
because
we’ve
been
watching
it
play
out
for
years.
Across
multiple
polls
and
questions
to
the
American
public,
the
Supreme
Court’s
numbers
have
just
been
tanking.
But
this
NBC
poll
still
manages
to
set
a
new
benchmark
for
institutional
distrust.
Earlier:
The
Supreme
Court’s
Sinking
Popularity
Is
This
The
New
Hotness
In
Court
Reform?
End
The
Supreme
Court
Of
Course
The
Supreme
Court’s
Approval
Is
In
The
Tank
Whaddya
Know?
A
Majority
Of
Americans
Support
Expanding
The
Supreme
Court
John
Roberts
Has
The
Best
Approval
Rating
In
Government
And
That’s
Terrible
News
For
America
Fox
News
Shows
Just
How
Badly
Americans
Dislike
The
Supreme
Court
No
One
Likes
Clarence
Thomas,
Or
Really
*Any*
Of
The
Conservative
Supreme
Court
Justices
Americans
Know
The
Truth
About
The
Supreme
Court
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
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