The latest Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 45% of America’s Likely Voters have a favorable opinion of the United States Supreme Court. Thirty-five percent (35%) have an unfavorable opinion and 20% are not sure.

A year ago, a Rasmussen survey of adults found that 40% had a favorable opinion of the Court.

Politically speaking, 33% of voters believe the Court is too conservative. Twenty-six percent (26%) believe it is too liberal and 33% say it’s “about right.” That’s a reversal from March 2005 when 28% said the Court was too liberal and 24% said it was too conservative.

Looking at the question along partisan lines, 48% of Republicans currently consider the court too liberal—the same percentage of Democrats that considers it too conservative.

Most Americans (58%) believe that the Supreme Court holds the right amount of power within our nation’s legal system. Thirty-one percent (31%) believe the court holds too much power, a percentage greatly outnumbered by the 5% who say the court doesn’t have enough power.

Forty percent (40%) say the court is too hostile toward religion while 22% believe it is too friendly. A Rasmussen Reports survey taken in summer 2005 found 46% of voters sharing that opinion.

When it comes to issues surrounding the separation of Church and State, 54% of all voters believe it is more important to protect the church from government; 35% believe the reverse is true.

Republicans, by a 6-to-1 margin, overwhelmingly believe that the higher priority is to protect the church from the government. Democrats are evenly divided with a plurality offering no opinion.

Rasmussen Reports has also asked American voters to rate the Supreme Court on a different scale and will be tracking this measure over time. In late November, 38% of Likely Voters said that the Court was doing a good or an excellent job (see crosstabs). Forty-one percent (41%) said fair and 18% poor.

Rasmussen Reports has also asked survey participants about a number of individual Supreme Court Justices. Samuel Alito is viewed favorably by 35% and unfavorably by 37%. For Ruth Bader-Ginsberg, the numbers are reversed—37% favorable, 35% unfavorable. Antonin Scalia is in the same range with 35% responding each way. Clarence Thomas fares better than the others earning favorable reviews from 48% while 36% have an unfavorable opinion.

When nominated to serve as Chief Justice, John Roberts was viewed favorably by 36% of Americans and unfavorably by 26%. We will be updating these figures in the near future.

Historical data available for Premium Members only.