WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A new poll shows the majority of Americans are more distrustful of the Supreme Court following two rulings easing restrictions on campaign contributions.
According to a May 7 Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll, 63 percent of voters rate the Supreme Court's job performance as either fair or poor. Only 6 percent of Americans rated the court's job performance as excellent.
Recent high court rulings on campaign finance have increased the public's distrust of the court, the poll states.
By an 80-18 margin, those surveyed said they disapproved of the 2010 Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the court said corporations and unions could make unlimited independent expenditures that are not coordinated with a campaign.
The majority of those surveyed also disapproved of the Supreme Court's April 2 ruling, which struck down overall campaign contribution limits in case of McCutcheon v. FEC.
The poll shows 51 percent of Americans think the McCutcheon decision will lead to more corruption.
The majority of those surveyed, 54 percent, strongly support abolishing the practice of lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices and instead allow justices to serve a fixed term of 18 years.
The GQR poll surveyed 1,004 Americans over the age of 18 from April 16 - 24.
From Legal Newsline: Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com.
American distrust of SCOTUS grows following campaign contribution rulings
