55% of Americans believe Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson should be confirmed in the Supreme Court when the fourday hearings in which the Senate Judiciary Committee will evaluate her credentials for life term begin, according to a poll released Monday by Monmouth University.
21% say this should not be confirmed and 24% have no opinion, according to the survey.
The data. About 2 in 10 believe an African American woman on the Supreme Court will have real impact in deciding cases, while 3 in 10 say it will have no impact.
- If confirmed, Jackson will become the first black woman on the ninejudge panel and the third AfricanAmerican judge after Thurgood Marshall and his successor, Justice Clarence Thomas.
- Almost half of Americans have heard enough about Jackson to think she’s very qualified (33%) or somewhat qualified (14%) for the job. Only 9% say they are not qualified, while 43% have not heard enough about the candidate to judge their qualifications.
diversity in the dish. Jackson’s nomination also fulfills one of President Joe Biden’s promises as a presidential candidate that, given the opportunity, he would bring more diversity to the nation’s highest court.
- 53% approve of Biden’s pledge to name a black woman as his first candidate for the court, while 41% disagree that he makes it an important factor in his election.
- Among African Americans, 73% say Jackson should be confirmed (only 3% oppose his confirmation and 24% have no opinion) and 80% agree with Biden’s promise to nominate a black woman as his nominee.
- 61% of other ethnic minorities support Biden making race and gender a priority in his election, but nonHispanic whites are divided on the issue (45% agree and 50% disagree).
Under the partisan lens. Support for Jackson’s nomination is broad among Democrats, while Republicans tend to oppose it, but not overwhelmingly: 82% of Democrats say Jackson should be confirmed and 64% think she is highly qualified.
Only 29% of respondents think it should be confirmed, as opposed to 42% who disagree with its choice.
The work of the court. There is no consensus on the US Supreme Court’s performance: 42% approve of its work and 42% oppose it. Republicans (52%) are more likely to agree than Democrats (31%).
Six years ago, the Supreme Court had a more positive rating of 49% agree and 33% disagree, with Democrats having more agreement (65%) than Republicans (36%).