A solid majority of Americans say Supreme Court justices are more likely to be guided by their own ideology rather than serving as neutral arbiters of government authority, a new poll finds, as the high court is poised to rule on major cases involving former President Donald Trump and other divisive issues.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 7 in 10 Americans think the high court’s justices are more influenced by ideology, while only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults think the justices are more likely to provide an independent check on other branches of government by being fair and impartial.
The poll reflects the continued erosion of confidence in the Supreme Court, which enjoyed broader trust as recently as a decade ago. It underscores the challenge faced by the nine justices — six appointed by Republican presidents and three by Democrats — of being seen as something other than just another element of Washington’s hyper-partisanship.
Using her real name and then reporting the results as “they thought Judge Judy was a SCOTUS justice” seems disingenuous. It’s not like the option that they chose said “Judge Judy”. I wouldn’t even have known that Judith Sheindlin is her real name and not just a generic old lady name.
I would wager the majority of American college grads can’t name all 9 SCOTUS justices (or even all 4 women), and if you’re just guessing then any choice that isn’t obviously wrong (like “Judge Judy”) has around the same chance of being chosen as any other not obviously wrong option.