The Supreme Court's recent decisions in two major cases are popular, according to new polling, despite strong Democratic criticism of the justices' rulings.
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll carried out on behalf of Newsweek asked eligible voters their views on the court's decisions in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis and Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and found support for the rulings.
Prominent Democrats have strongly criticized both decisions, which dealt with the First Amendment and affirmative action respectively, with President Joe Biden saying, "This is not a normal court" in response to the affirmative action decision.
Nonetheless, the Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey found 51 percent of respondents said they supported the ruling in 303 Creative, where the court ruled in favor of a Colorado woman who designs websites for weddings and wanted to post a notice on her website saying that because of her Christian beliefs, she wasn't willing to design wedding websites for same-sex couples.
The court found that the First Amendment prohibits Colorado from compelling the woman to produce expressions she disagrees with.
When asked about the ruling, 30 percent of respondents said they strongly supported it and 21 percent said they supported it—a total of 51 percent.
A further 12 percent were strongly opposed, while 10 percent of those polled were opposed and 21 percent said they neither opposed nor supported the decision. Six percent responded, "Don't know."
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll was conducted among 1,500 eligible voters on July 6, 2023.
In a statement following the Court's ruling in 303 Creative, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler and Constitution Subcommittee Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon—both Democrats—called the decision "a gut punch to the LGBTQ community that singles them out as second-class citizens under the law" and accused the court of weaponizing the First Amendment.
Democrats also criticized the court's decision in the Students for Fair Admissions case, which effectively eliminated the use of race as a criterion for consideration in college admissions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Supreme Court "has put a giant roadblock in our country's march toward racial justice."
"The Court's misguided decision reminds us how far we still have to go to ensure that all Americans are treated equally," Schumer said, while President Biden also took aim at the court.
"The truth is, we all know it, discrimination still exists in America," Biden said, adding: "Today's decision does not change that," Biden said.
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll found that 29 percent of eligible voters strongly supported the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action, with another 21 percent saying they supported it—a total of 50 percent.
Just 10 percent of respondents said they were strongly opposed to the ruling, while 11 percent said they were opposed and 22 percent said they neither opposed nor supported it, while 8 percent didn't know.
Forty-three percent of respondents supported the president "having the responsibility of naming nominees for appointment to the Supreme Court," while 23 percent didn't support it, 8 didn't know and 27 percent neither supported nor opposed the president's role.
Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president but must be approved by the Senate. Three of the current justices were appointed by former President Donald Trump, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed by Biden.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court via email for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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