C-SPAN is currently conducting a Senate hearing to confirm the appointment of a new judge. This national treasure has also requested another timely poll about the Supreme Court.
These results are depressing.
The verdict confirms that the nation’s education system needs to rethink its civics instruction or even bring it back. These schools produced a few generations of perversely eligible voters, but they are not able to teach them anything.
Here’s a sampling of the results from 1,011 Likely Voters, many of whom shouldn’t be allowed to:
- 44 percent of the voters don’t know that the three branches of government are co-equal. (In case you’re one of those people, the branches are the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial.)
- Of the 44 percent who believe the branches are not equal, half (51 percent) think the Executive has the most power, a quarter (26 percent) believe the Legislative has the most clout, and an ignorant 23 percent think it’s the Judiciary.
- Nearly half of respondents (46%) say that the Supreme Court has become a political institution.
- 61 percent claim they are closely following Joe Biden’s Court nominee.
- But 72 percent of these voters lie. These voters don’t know who the nominee for confirmation is. (If you’re in that crowd, her name is Ketanji Brown Jackson and the hearing continues today live on C-SPAN.)
- 85 percent don’t know that the nominee was a black female judge. Joe Biden could not earn as much political credit because he did not exclude any other types of Americans from his secretive selection process.
- 58 percent of the voters think thIt is Senate confirmation process is not an “effective and fair tool” for approving Court nominees or they have no idea about it.
- In case you weren’t taught math well either, that means only 42 percent think the ongoing Senate confirmation isIt is fair and effective.
- Voters don’t really keep up much with Supreme Court outcomes either. The best-known decision, as you might imagine because it’s the only one liberal media ever talk about, was Roe vs Wade. That’s the one that found a right to abortion in the Constitution that took effect 234 years ago this June.
- It was the unanimous Brown decision. The 1954 decision, which was ruled in favor of the Board of Education by only six percent of Americans knew. Racial segregation within public schools breaches the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. It forced reform to public schools in order for people like Judge Jackson to have a good public education.
- The survey does not reveal much information about the Court’s current members. Clarence Thomas (24%), the best-known justice. He’s the black one. And then John Roberts (22 percent), the boss one who’s white, of course.
- The Supreme Court may be little known by these Likely Voters. But, 84% say that they know how its decisions impact their lives.
- Of course, this could also mean either they think they’ll look smarter by lying. Or more likely, being American voters, they’re just too lazy to bother learning more about the institution.
However, there were some rays of hope. Nearly six in ten (59%) of respondents said that the Court could be improved if the members were not from the Northeast’s same law schools.
Instead of being appointed for life, they thought an 18 year term would work better. To show their unrealistic optimism about Washington’s government institutions, seven out of 10 voters voted for a Code of Ethics to be adopted by the Court.
Respondents loved the Court’s idea of allowing audio for oral arguments. This was allowed by the Court two years ago in a pandemic adjustment.
Pierrepont Analytics had been hired by C-SPAN for the survey. Pierrepont asked the company if they should allow TV cameras into the Court. Wait for it! Fully 65 percent said Yes, while 70 percent said live TV coverage would help build trust in the institution — just like it has in Congress.
The most striking poll result was the fact that 92 per cent would tune in to see the Supreme Court function if Fox News had Judge Jeanine as its host.
No, just kidding. I made that one up to see if you’re still paying attention.
We are now adjourned.
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