Marquette Law School National Poll on the U.S. Supreme Court

The Marquette Law School Poll will release the results of its national survey of public opinion over two days, July 20-21. Although a number of the programs offered in the Law School’s Lubar Center have resumed “in person,” these national results continue to be released only online, via written releases and video conversations between poll director Charles Franklin and Alan Borsuk, senior fellow in law and public policy.

On Wednesday, July 20, the Marquette Law School Poll will release results pertaining to public opinion about the U.S. Supreme Court. The survey, conducted in July, follows the conclusion of the Court’s term, in late June, including the decision overruling the recognition of constitutional abortion rights in Roe v. Wade in 1973. This is the ninth installment in a series of nationwide surveys, begun in 2019, measuring public understanding and opinion of the nation’s highest court.

The second release, on Thursday, July 21, will concern findings of the Marquette Law School Poll’s national survey of policy preferences and political topics. This release will examine public opinion on abortion policy, awareness of and opinion about the House Jan. 6 committee hearings, political engagement and likelihood of voting in the November elections, and favorability to President Joe Biden, former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
National poll on the U.S. Supreme Court – Wednesday, July 20

The new Marquette Law School Poll Supreme Court survey will report on national public opinion concerning the Court’s June rulings on abortion and on Second Amendment rights. The release builds on past Marquette Law School Poll surveys by measuring opinion about major cases before the Court concerning both abortion and also the question whether the Second Amendment includes a right to possess a gun outside the home. Past decisions by the Court on same-sex marriage and federal statutory protection of LGBT rights against job discrimination are also the topics of survey questions.

The survey continues to examine public approval of how the Court is handling its job, confidence in the Court as an institution, public perception of the Court’s ideological balance, and perceptions of recent shifts on the Court.

National poll on political topics – Thursday, July 21

The same national survey will form the basis of a second release the next day, focusing on awareness of and reaction to the hearings of the House Jan. 6 committee, preferences among potential policies about abortion, and the saliency of these issues for voters. The poll asks about motivation to vote and likelihood of voting in the November midterm elections, and measures how these vary by opinion on abortion and by party. Opinion about a range of policy options concerning when and how a state might choose to limit abortions is surveyed.

The poll continues to monitor views of Trump, Pence, and DeSantis, along with opinion of Biden and a possible Trump candidacy in 2024. The survey includes trends in confidence/doubt about the accuracy of the 2020 presidential election and how that is related to other political views.