The share of Americans who favor same sex marriage has grown in recent years, though there are still demographic and partisan divides.
Ahead of the Senate’s deliberations over Kavanaugh, here’s a look at where the public stands on some of the major legal, political and social issues that could come before the Supreme Court in the years ahead.
A week after Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court, the public is split in its early views of the nomination.
Trump has successfully appointed more federal appeals court judges so far in his presidency than his two predecessors combined had at the same point in theirs. And with his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Trump soon could install his second justice on the nation’s highest court, too.
As the court enters a period in which it is expected to deliver high-profile rulings – and with speculation mounting over whether one or more justices may soon retire – here are five facts about the U.S. Supreme Court, based on surveys and other recent research by Pew Research Center.
A majority of Americans now say the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution means today, representing a shift in public opinion.
Americans are divided over whether businesses that provide wedding services should be required to cater to same-sex couples even if their owners have religious objections to homosexuality.
The contentious Senate debate over Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court has cast a spotlight on deep partisan and ideological divisions in Congress – and in the public – over how the U.S. Supreme Court should interpret the Constitution when making its decisions.
When President Donald Trump nominated federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia, he chose a candidate whose professional background is very much in line with previous and current justices.
A few weeks after Gorsuch's nomination, 44% of Americans say they favor the Senate confirming him, while 32% are opposed; roughly a quarter offer no opinion.
