The FINANCIAL — October has arrived once again, and with it comes the impending return of the U.S. Supreme Court, which begins its new term next Monday. In anticipation of this, The Harris Poll asked Americans to deliberate on the nation’s highest court, and found that despite two-thirds of Americans (68%) feeling it’s a crucial governing body for the success of the United States, nearly half of Americans (47%, up from 42% in 2010) say they are not knowledgeable about the Supreme Court confirmation process, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Just over half of Americans (53%, down from 58% in 2010) indicate being that they’re knowledgeable about the process, with one in ten (11%) saying specifically that they are very knowledgeable about it and just over four in ten (42%) saying they’re somewhat knowledgeable. Generational and gender gaps both emerge on this:
Gen Xers (57%) and Baby Boomers (58%) are both more likely than Millennials (45%) to consider themselves knowledgeable.
Men (68%) are considerably more likely than women (40%) to indicate that they are knowledgeable.
While there are no Supreme Court confirmations on the immediate horizon, which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been confirming for her part in recent interviews, the need can arise unpredictably. As such, it’s important to examine the confirmation process, beginning with the topics they should or should not be expected to discuss during their Congressional interviews. Over eight in ten Americans (84%, up slightly from 81% in 2010) believe Supreme Court nominees should be required to answer questions about their views on specific issues, while nearly three-fourths (73%) feel they should be required to discuss their political affiliations, and nearly two-thirds (65%, up slightly from 63% in 2010) feel they should be required to indicate how they would vote in specific past and hypothetical court cases. Americans seem to be more invested in nominees’ personal lives than in 2010, as the percentage believing nominees should be required to answer questions about their personal lives has risen from 54% in 2010 to 61% today, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
The expectation that nominees should discuss their personal lives is an especially divisive one:
Fewer than half of Millennials agree they should be required to answer questions about their personal lives (48%), compared to roughly two-thirds of Gen Xers (64%) and Baby Boomers (68%), and three-fourths of Matures (74%).
Looking at the political spectrum, Republicans are far more likely than either Democrats or Independents to agree candidates should have to answer such questions (73%, 58% and 59%, respectively).
Also on the subject of the selection process, nearly half of Americans (48%) believe it would be better if Supreme Court justices were elected to office, with 36% disagreeing and 16% unsure, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Constitutional purist or independent thinker?
When asked what type of person they’d most like to see on the Supreme Court, a plurality (48%, down slightly from 51% in 2010) opted for a jurist who keeps their personal opinions of “right” and “wrong” to themselves and makes decisions strictly based on the letter of the law and the Constitution. One-third of Americans (32%, identical to 2010 findings) say they would prefer an independent thinker who uses creativity and an understanding of modern circumstances to inform their legal rulings, while one in ten (9%, up from 6% in 2010) say they’d want someone who uses their own values or moral compass to guide their decisions. An additional one in ten are not at all sure what type of person they prefer (11%, same as in 2010), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Generational divides again emerge. The jurist making decisions based strictly on the letter of the law and the Constitution is the top selection, followed by the independent thinker, for matures (67% and 25%, respectively), Baby Boomers (55% and 30%, respectively) and Gen Xers (49% and 33%, respectively). Meanwhile, Millennials are more likely to opt for the independent thinker (37% by a narrow margin over the constitutional and legal “literalist” (34%).
Differences are also apparent by political party, with a clear majority of Republicans (64%) preferring a justice be a literalist over an independent thinker (16%) or someone who looks to their own values to guide their decisions (12%). Independents are more split, with nearly half (48%) preferring a literalist and over one-third (36%) preferring an independent thinker. Democrats veer further still from Republicans’ viewpoint, with a plurality (44%) indicating a preference for the independent thinker while 38% opt for the literalist, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Representativeness and the appointment of a lifetime
Seven in ten Americans believe that the makeup of the Supreme Court should fairly represent Americans’ diverse socioeconomic backgrounds (71%) and that it should fairly represent the demographic makeup of the United States (70%). Democrats are more likely than either Republicans or Independents to support both of these statements (Socioeconomic – 82% Democrats vs. 64% Republicans and 68% Independents / Demographic – 82% vs. 61% and 67%, respectively).
Seven in ten U.S. adults also believe that Supreme Court justices should not have lifetime appointments. Interestingly, objection to the lifetime appointment is lowest among the youngest generations (63% Millennials, vs. 71% Gen Xers, 73% Baby Boomers and 76% Matures), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
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