Poll: Only 44% Approve of Supreme Court's Job

A new poll shows Americans do not approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing and believe the justices are guided by personal or political views.

The nationwide poll conducted May 31 by The New York Times and CBS News shows just 44 percent of Americans approve of how the Supreme Court was handling its job, with 36 percent disapproving, the Times reported.

The numbers represent a slip in the court’s traditional standing with Americans, the Times said, with approval numbers trending downward over the last 25 years. In the late 1980s approval reached 66 percent.

The court’s approval rating still tops Congress, which is at a scant 15 percent.

Just one in eight Americans believe the justices decide cases solely on legal merits, the Times reported.

“As far as the Supreme Court goes, judgments can’t be impersonal,” Vicki Bartlett, an independent in Bremerton, Wash., told the Times. “When you make judgments, it’s always personal. But the best hope is that they will do their job within the legal parameters.”