A recent nationwide survey, highlighted in a Wall Street Journal opinion editorial, revealed that most Americans do not support sweeping changes to the Supreme Court, despite President Joe Biden’s recent endorsement of such measures. The survey, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, found that 52% of likely voters oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to change the structure of the Supreme Court, while only 41% support the idea. President Biden, in a bid to alter the makeup of the high court, has endorsed legislation that includes imposing term limits for justices, a move that is of questionable constitutionality.
The survey also asked respondents if they agreed with “court-packing,” which is generally defined as increasing the number of Supreme Court seats to alter the ideological balance of the court. Only 34% of likely voters supported this plan, while 59% opposed it and 7% were undecided. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of voters agreed that plans to expand the membership of the Supreme Court are primarily motivated by political objectives. Furthermore, 87% of likely voters, including 84% of Democrats, agreed that an independent judiciary is a crucial safeguard of civil liberties.
Democrats in Congress, along with the White House, have been advocating for radical changes to the Supreme Court, despite the opposition from most Americans. At the Democratic National Convention, attacks against the high court have already been leveled, with Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow falsely claiming that a recent Supreme Court decision has made former President Donald Trump “completely immune from prosecution.” The Wall Street Journal criticized these attacks as “poisonous” and noted that most Americans do not endorse them, according to the recent survey commissioned by the First Liberty Institute, which advocates for religious freedom.
The United States Supreme Court has had nine justices for over 150 years, and any attempts to alter this longstanding tradition are met with skepticism by the majority of Americans. While President Biden’s plan to impose term limits for justices and make other changes to the court has garnered some support, the overall sentiment among likely voters is against amending the constitution to change the structure of the Supreme Court. The survey results clearly show that Americans value an independent judiciary as a crucial safeguard of civil liberties, and any attempts to expand the membership of the court are viewed as politically motivated.
Despite the push from Democrats in Congress and the White House to implement radical changes to the Supreme Court, the recent survey indicates that most Americans do not support such measures. The attacks against the high court at the Democratic National Convention have been deemed “poisonous” by the Wall Street Journal, which highlighted the disconnect between these attacks and the views of the majority of Americans. It remains to be seen how President Biden and his administration will proceed with their plans for the Supreme Court in light of the opposition from likely voters and the broader implications for the country’s judicial system.
