The share of Americans with a favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to its lowest point in public opinion surveys dating to 1987.  

Americans express highly negative views of President Joe Biden, congressional leadership in both parties and Congress more broadly. Views of the economy remain overwhelmingly negative, and there has been a sharp rise in the share who say the country cannot solve many of its important problems.

There has been a jump in the share of U.S. adults who see the Supreme Court as “friendly” toward religion.

But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics.

Americans’ ratings of the Supreme Court are now as negative as – and more politically polarized than – at any point in more than three decades of polling. And nearly two-thirds of Democrats (64%) now say the Supreme Court has too much power, almost three times the share who said this in August 2020 (23%).

Joe Biden’s federal judicial appointees so far include a record number of women and racial and ethnic minorities.

Opinion on the legality of abortion has changed little since before the court's decision, with 62% now saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

44% of the public says the Senate should definitely (24%) or probably (20%) confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Here is a roundup of Americans’ views of the court, perceptions of its ideology, the history of confirmations and justices’ backgrounds.

It’s worth remembering that vacancies on the Supreme Court didn’t always devolve into partisan slugfests.