Judge Judy is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, according to 10 percent of college graduates who participated in a
new study illustrating an alarming dip in civics education.
The study, released this month and conducted by the marketing firm GfK for the
nonprofit American Council of Trustees and Alumni, also revealed that nearly 40 percent of college graduates are not aware that Congress has the power to declare war. Nearly half of respondents didn't know the term lengths of Congress members.
But the news that nearly one in 10 people holding college degrees believe that Judith Sheindlin, aka "Judge Judy" of syndicated TV courtroom fame, sits on the Supreme Court took many by surprise.
"If 'Judith Sheindlin' is a name that could be confused with one of the justices, something's gone badly off," Michael Poliakoff, vice president of policy for the
American Council of Trustees and Alumni, told The Huffington Post.
On the survey, people were given five choices to the question: "Which of the following people serves on the U.S. Supreme Court?"
Some 61 percent of college graduates and 44 percent of the general public correctly answered the question with Justice Elena Kagan. Nearly 22 percent of college graduates and 26 percent of the general public believed that retired federal judge Lawrence Warren Pierce was a member of the high court.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was named on 5.5 percent of the college graduate responses and 11.5 percent of the general public's responses. Judge Judy was named on 9.6 percent of the college graduate answers and 13.1 percent of the general public's answers.
"Our country depends upon an educated populace; and while civic activity and service learning are important, they simply cannot substitute for substantive learning about our history and government," the council's president Anne D. Neal said in a statement.
"It's time that colleges and universities replace their anything-goes approach to the curriculum with specific subject-matter requirements that will empower America's next generation of leaders," she continued.
Some had fun with the Supreme Court results on social media.
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