Approval of Supreme Court Improving Despite Media Attacks

Marquette Law School’s latest national survey of how Americans rate the Supreme Court contains some hidden gems. Despite relentless attacks on the high court’s ideology and integrity by the lawless mainstream media, the individuals surveyed hold the Court in increasing esteem and regard. And they avidly support one of the high court’s most controversial and important decisions, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.

That decision, along with a more recent one, United States v. Rahimi, which held that only “when an individual has been found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another” may he be temporarily disarmed “consistent with the Second Amendment,” is widely supported by those surveyed.

The pollsters asked:

In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that, subject to some restrictions, the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Seventy percent favored the ruling, while just 30 percent disapproved of it.

Huge Implications

This has vast future implications for the life and health of the Second Amendment. The only way seven out of 10 Americans polled could support the high court’s ruling in Bruen would be for many Democrats to hold the view. As Jennifer Sensiba, writing for Shooting Sports Weekly, noted:

This shows us … that gun rights are no longer a conservative or Republican issue.… There’s a wide swath of the public that isn’t socially conservative … but they do support gun rights.

This is part of the reason why the Court is enjoying a rebound in public support after being attacked mercilessly. Following its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the media endlessly droned on about how the high court was taking away the right of a mother to murder her unborn child in her womb. The court ruled that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion … and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” In the process, it overruled two previous high court decisions, Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). Those two rulings opened the door to a national holocaust: the murder of an estimated 65 million unborn human beings over the next 50 years — more than one million innocents a year.

Following the Dobbs decision, approval of the Supreme Court fell to 38 percent. But it has staged a remarkable comeback, and that approval rating is now at 45 percent. A Gallup poll shows an even higher approval rating of 48 percent.

Election Implications

The mainstream media harp on the Supreme Court’s alleged wrongheaded decisions, blaming them on Trump’s conservative appointments. However, that issue falls far below immigration and the economy in importance to the average voter this election. Calls to expand the high court and subject its members to term limits and a revised code of ethics are falling on deaf ears.

Marquette asked:

Thinking about the last month only, how much have you heard or read about the U.S. Supreme Court?

Only 19 percent responded “a lot,” with another 20 percent responding “nothing at all.”