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Public Opinion of the Supreme Court

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Lawyers for Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Friday as the nation's highest court tackled one of its most important and high-profile cases in years.

The Gallup Poll has asked the public to rate the Supreme Court in several ways in recent months, and in earlier years the Poll asked about the issue of cameras in courtrooms.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Supreme Court is handling its job?

 

 

Approve

Disapprove

No opinion

       

2000 Aug 29-Sep 5

62%

29

9



Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill Clinton is handling his job as president?

 


Approve

Disapprove

No
opinion

2000

%

%

%

2000 Aug 29-Sep 3

62

35

3

00 Aug 18-19

62

35

3

00 Aug 11-12

58

39

3

00 Aug 4-5

57

40

3

00 Jul 25-26

57

39

4

00 Jul 14-15

59

37

4

00 Jul 6-9

59

36

5

00 Jun 22-25

55

40

5

00 Jun 6-7

60

36

4



Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

 


Approve

Disapprove

No
opinion

2000

%

%

%

2000 Aug 29-Sep 5

48

42

10

2000 May 18-21

39

52

9

2000 Jan 7-10

51

42

7



In its recent rulings, do you think the Supreme Court has been too liberal, too conservative, or just about right?

 

 

Too
liberal

Too
conservative

About
right

No
opinion

 

%

%

%

%

         

2000 Aug 29-Sep 5

27

16

49

8

Republicans

40

8

46

6

Democrats

16

24

52

8

         

1995 Jul 7-9

31

20

41

8

1993 Jun 18-21 ^

22

24

45

9

         

^ Based on 503 national adults; margin of error ± 5 pct. pts.



Now I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one -- a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little? First, ... . Next, … . [RANDOM ORDER]

 

 

Great
deal

Quite
a lot


Some

Very
little

NONE (vol.)

No
opinion

2000 Jun 22-25

%

%

%

%

%

%

             

A. The church or organized
religion


28


28


26


14


2


2

             

B. The military

25

39

26

7

1

2

             

C. The U.S. Supreme Court

18

29

35

14

1

3

             

D. Banks

14

32

41

11

1

1

             

E. Public schools

13

24

41

19

2

1

             

F. Newspapers

12

25

38

22

2

1

             

G. Congress

7

17

47

24

3

2

             

H. Television news

11

25

40

21

2

1

             

I. Organized labor

9

16

44

23

2

5

             

J. The presidency

15

27

37

18

2

1

             

K. The police

18

36

33

10

2

1

             

L. The medical system

14

26

37

21

2

*

             

M. The criminal justice system

8

16

42

30

3

1

             

N. Big business

9

20

45

22

2

2

             

O. Health maintenance
organizations, HMOs


6


10


35


38


7


4

             
             

* Less than 0.5%

     

(vol.) Volunteered response

     


Do you think the judge in the O.J. Simpson case (he is accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman) should ban television cameras from the courtroom where hearings in the O.J. Simpson case are being held, or do you think television cameras should be allowed in the courtroom?

 

 

Ban
cameras

Allow
cameras

No
opinion

 

%

%

%

       

1994 Oct 7-9

68

27

4

       


As you may know, television cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom for the Oklahoma City Bombing trial. In your view is this a good idea or a bad idea?

 

 

Good
idea

Bad
idea

No
opinion

 

%

%

%

       

1997 Mar 24-26

80

18

2

       


Survey Methods

The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with randomly selected national samples of at least 1,000 adults, 18 years and older. For results based on these samples, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/2260/public-opinion-supreme-court.aspx
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