Source: Huffington Post
Posted: 06/08/2012 7:02 am
Updated: 06/08/2012 10:10 am
The American public’s faith in government continues to decline.
President Barack Obama’s job approval rating currently stands at 47 percent, Gallup reported. However, nearly as many respondents said they disapproved of the president’s actions.
The reputation of Congress is practically in the gutter, treading water at 17 percent in April. That was a slight improvement from February, when approval of the lawmakers in D.C. reached a record low of 10 percent.
Now the people have weighed in on the justices of the high court, and the report isn’t stellar. According to a new poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News, just 44 percent of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing.
Three-quarters said the nine justices sometimes decided cases based on their personal or political views, rather than along constitutional lines. Only 1 in 8 Americans said the justices decided cases based solely on legal analysis, The New York Times reported.
Sixty percent of Americans also agreed with the statement that “appointing Supreme Court justices for life is a bad thing because it gives them too much power.” Only one-third said that life tenure for justices was “a good thing because it helps keep them independent from political pressures.”
Back in 1994, the court’s approval rating hit an all-time high of 80 percent, The Associated Press reported. Such a drastic change in less than two decades could be attributed to the changing makeup of the court, particularly after the ideologically divided 5-to-4 decisions in Bush v. Gore, which determined the 2000 presidential election, and Citizens United, the 2010 decision that gave unlimited campaign spending rights to corporations and unions.
Whether the upcoming decision on the Obama administration’s health care overhaul has an impact on the public’s view of the court remains to be seen.
Related articles
- 44 Percent of Americans Approve of Supreme Court in New Poll (nytimes.com)
- Poll: 3 in 4 say politics sway justices (upi.com)
The decisions of the Supreme Court are political or corrruption is apparent. Impeachment warranted when cover up and protection of corrupt 3rd branch public servants and corrupt attorneys trumps well established Acts of Congress and our Constitution.
The Supreme Court of the United States just ruled that corrupt court staff in the Massachusetts Federal Court System and corrupt Jackson Lewis attorneys from Boston who freely violate federal criminal law are exempt from the laws of this Nation and that a Disabled American has no rights. Comment supported by public court records. The DENIED, in effect, has delegitimized the US Courts and acts of Congress; in the instant case the Supreme Court of the United States subverted the ADA, the Crime Victims Act, and the Magistrate Act. This decision spat on the first and fifth amendments and invalidated the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980, 28 U.S.C.§§ 351-364; no matter the evidence even when the orders and docket themselves are a clear usurpation of legislative authority there is no such thing as judicial misconduct. Soon the US will have a justice system that resembles the justice systems of the most corrupt countries on the planet. Our public servants live for the moment and their own self-preservation-the bickering appears to be for show so that they have an appearance of relevance. PRAY for our children and future generations. The Supreme Court of the United States allowed federal criminal law violation and by denying the petition are aiding and abetting crime. Anarchy is on the horizon! DENIED petition can be view at http://scr.bi/L1h9yQ
Uhhm, The Supreme Court is appointed for life. So why does they’re approval rating even matter? It could be 0% percent and they would still be as powerful as they would be if it was 100%. Supreme Court justice might just be the only government job where public approval doesn’t matter
The Supreme Court members can ( and will) also go to jail for violating their oath to serve. It seems we, the 99% aren’t happy with how they are serving their corporate masters instead of us. I think this info is good to know . . . Hugs, ~Jean