Poll: 39% view high court favorably

About 39 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court, according to a new poll.

By comparison, about 67 percent view the U.S. military favorably and 38 percent have a favorable opinion of Sen. Hillary Clinton, according to Rasmussen Reports, which conducted the surveys.

The poll on the high court found 33 percent have an unfavorable opinion.

Rasmussen said the results were similar to a poll five years ago that found 35 percent agreed with most Supreme Court decisions while 30 percent disagreed.

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The pollster noted cultural issues, often decided by Supreme Court rulings, were the most important issue for 10 percent of voters on Election Day last fall. These voters overwhelmingly supported President Bush.

A March 2005 survey found that 28 percent believe the high court is too liberal and 24 percent say it is too conservative. A separate survey found that 31 percent believe most judges are too liberal and 19 percent believe they are too conservative.

In the lastest poll, Rasmussen found that favorable views of the Supreme Court are held by 42 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of those not affiliated with either major party.

Among men, the Court is viewed favorably by 44 percent and unfavorably by 36 percent. Among women, the numbers are 34 percent favorable and 31 percent unfavorable.

Broken down by generation, those aged 30-49 view the court most favorably and those 50 and above have the least favorable opinion.

The July 2000 survey found that solid majorities supported Court rulings upholding Miranda rights, allowing Elian Gonzales to return to Cuba and a decision allowing the Boy Scouts of America to ban gays from adult membership.

The public was evenly divided on a June 2000 Court ruling on partial birth abortion and opposed to a ruling banning prayer before high school football games in Texas.

At that time, 44 percent of Americans believed the Supreme Court was too hostile to religion while 7 percent said it was too friendly.

An Election 2004 survey found that voters believed the Massachusetts Supreme Court exceeded its authority by mandating same-sex marriages.