Survey finds majority support for recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions

MILWAUKEE (NBC 26) — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds majorities of adults in favor each of seven U.S. Supreme Court cases decided this year.

Support ranges from 56% for a decision limiting district court use of nationwide injunctions to 75% for a decision upholding a Texas state law requiring proof of age to access sexually oriented websites.

Support also surpassed 70% for decisions requiring due process for those subject to deportation (73%) and upholding a Tennessee state law banning gender-transition treatment for minors (71%).

A decision requiring schools to allow parents to decide to opt their children out of lessons on religious grounds is favored by 69%.

A decision from January upholding a federal law requiring the sale of TikTok has 60% in favor.

And a decision overturning a Wisconsin ruling that denied a Catholic charity organization a religious tax exemption is favored by 59%.

The full set of rulings surveyed is shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)

Table 1: Favor or oppose recent Supreme Court decisions
Among adults

Across these cases, 75% favored a majority of the seven decisions, while 25% opposed a majority of the results. Most respondents disagreed with at least some Court rulings. All seven outcomes are favored by 10%, six of the seven are favored by 28%, and five are favored by 21%. Few respondents oppose most of the decisions, with 1% opposed to all, 4% opposed to six, and 7% opposed to five. Table 2 shows support across all decisions.
Table 2: Number of decisions supported
Among adults

The survey was conducted July 7-16, 2025, interviewing 1,005 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.
Approval of the job the Supreme Court is doing inched down from 53% in May to 49% in July, with 51% disapproving in July. During the current term of the Court since October 2024, approval rose from 45% in October with small declines in May and July, as shown in Table 3.
Table 3: U.S. Supreme Court approval
Among adults

The decline in approval in July is driven by shifts among Democrats, whose approval fell from 31% in May to 18% in July. Approval among Republicans and independents increased only slightly, as shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Supreme Court approval
Among national adults

Partisan differences in approval of the Court persist beyond agreement or disagreement with the Court’s rulings. Yet approval is higher in each party among those who agree with a majority of rulings than among those in the same party who disagree with most decisions, as shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Supreme Court approval, by agreement with seven surveyed decisions and party ID
Among national adults

Democrats are more attentive to news about the Court than are independents and Republicans. Among Democrats, 46% say they heard or read a lot about the Court in the last month, compared to 26% among Republicans and 25% among independents. Republicans and independents are also considerably more likely than Democrats to say they heard nothing at all about the Court, as shown in Table 6.
Democrats who disagreed with a majority of recent decisions were also more attentive to news about the Court. Of Democrats who opposed a majority of the decisions, 55% said they had heard a lot about the Court in the last month, compared to 38% saying this among Democrats who agreed with a majority of decisions.
Table 6: Attention to news about the U.S. Supreme Court
Among adults

Partisan divisions on individual Supreme Court decisions
Some recent decisions draw bipartisan support, while others reflect partisan divides. These divisions are generally smaller than ones typically seen for presidential approval or other clearly partisan issues.
The decision upholding a Texas law requiring proof of age in order to access sexually oriented websites is an example of strong support across party groups. This decision is favored by 84% of Republicans, 70% of independents, and 68% of Democrats, as shown in Table 7.
Table 7: Proof of age to access sexually oriented websites
Among adults

Majorities of each party also favor a decision to require due process for those facing deportation, though the gap between Republicans and Democrats is substantial. The ruling is favored by 53% of Republicans, 75% of independents, and 92% of Democrats, as shown in Table 8.
Table 8: Due process for those facing deportation
Among adults

A similar bipartisan majority and a similar partisan gap are seen on the decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on transgender treatment for minors, with 90% of Republicans in favor of the ruling, along with 72% of independents and 52% of Democrats, as shown in Table 9.
Table 9: Law banning gender-transition treatment for minors
Among adults

The decision allowing parents to opt their children out of certain school lessons due to religious objections falls just short of commanding bipartisan majorities, with 91% of Republicans in favor, while 66% of independents and 48% of Democrats are in favor. See Table 10.
Table 10: Allow parents to opt children out of school lessons
Among adults

The decision upholding the federal law requiring the sale of TikTok also falls just short of bipartisan agreement, though with a smaller gap between Republicans, 77% of whom favor the ruling, and the 47% each of Democrats and of independents who favor the ruling, as shown in Table 11.
Table 11: Uphold law requiring sale of TikTok
Among adults

There is a smaller partisan gap on the decision requiring a religious tax exemption for a Catholic charity organization, with 70% of Republicans across the nation in favor, along with 60% of independents and 47% of Democrats. The decision overturned a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, which had upheld denying the organization a tax exemption. These results are in Table 12.
Table 12: Tax exemption for Catholic charities
Among adults

Republicans and Democrats are strongly divided on a decision limiting the ability of federal district courts to impose nationwide injunctions, with 78% of Republicans in favor, compared to 32% of Democrats. The ruling is also favored by 63% of independents. Partisan favorability is shown in Table 13.
Table 13: Limit district courts use of nationwide injunctions
Among adults

The survey also asked about the 2015 decision that held there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Support among Republicans falls just short of a majority at 48%, with 66% of independents and 89% of Democrats in favor. The results are in Table 14.
Table 14: Constitutional right to same-sex marriage
Among adults

Public opinion on the 2024 decision that held presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts has a wide partisan gap, with 61% of Republicans in favor of the decision compared to 17% of Democrats and 42% of independents. This result is shown in Table 15.
Table 15: Presidential immunity from criminal prosecution
Among adults

Court authority
While 56% favor the Court’s decision limiting nationwide injunctions, a different question asked whether courts have the authority to temporarily block some of the executive actions of President Donald Trump’s administration. With this question, 69% say the courts have this authority, while 31% say they do not. In May, 64% said the courts had this power and 36% said they did not. On this question, which directly mentions the Trump administration, the partisan gap is even larger than for the decision on nationwide injunctions. Among Republicans, 42% think courts have the authority to temporarily block the administration’s actions, while 73% of independents and 94% of Democrats think so, as shown in Table 16.
Table 16: Do courts have authority to temporarily block Trump administration actions
Among adults

The poll shows continued strong support for the Supreme Court when it rules against the president. When asked whether a president must obey a ruling by the Supreme Court, 83% say the president must obey and 17% say the president can ignore the ruling. This high level of support for the power of the Supreme Court has remained stable since first asked in 2019, as shown in Table 17.
Table 17: Must a president obey ruling of U.S. Supreme Court
Among adults

Large majorities of all partisan groups say the president must obey Supreme Court rulings, as shown in Table 18. There is modest variation across partisan identification, with Republicans and independents somewhat more likely than Democrats to say presidents can ignore rulings, but more than 75% of each group say Supreme Court rulings must be followed.
Table 18: Must a president obey Supreme Court rulings
Among adults

There have been calls from members of Congress and from Trump to impeach federal judges who have ruled against administration actions. A majority of survey respondents say judges should not be impeached for such rulings. Specifically, 66% oppose impeachment of judges when members of Congress call for it, and 68% oppose impeachment when President Trump calls for it. There has been little change since May, when 70% opposed congressional calls for impeachment and 70% opposed Trump’s call to impeach.
Presidential power
Since taking office, Trump has frozen some spending and moved to close some agencies that had been authorized by Congress. Sixty-two percent say this is beyond the president’s authority, while 38% say the president has this authority. These views are little-changed since first asked in March, as shown in Table 19.
Table 19: Does president have authority to close agencies authorized by Congress
Among adults

When Congress fails to act, 20% say the president should have the power to make laws on his own, while 80% say he should not be able to do so. Opposition to this additional presidential power has increased a little since 2020, when 72% said the president should not be able to unilaterally make laws, as shown in Table 20.
Table 20: Should president be able to make laws if Congress fails to act
Among adults

While a majority of all partisan groups are opposed to allowing the president to make laws, there is greater support for this power among Republicans, 35%, than among independents, 15%, or among Democrats, 6%. All partisan groups are less supportive of this power than they were in September 2020, as shown in Table 21, though Republican support has increased from December 2024 to July.
Table 21: Should president be able to make laws if Congress fails to act
Among adults

About the Marquette Law School Poll
The survey was conducted July 7-16, 2025, interviewing 1,005 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.
Interviews were conducted using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a national probability sample with interviews conducted online. Certain other data from this survey (focusing on views of the Trump administration and policy issues) were released previously, on July 23. The detailed methodology statement, survey instrument, topline results, and crosstabs for this release are available on the Marquette Law Poll website [law.marquette.edu].

 
Wording of questions about recent and past Supreme Court decisions
These items do not attempt to exactly frame the particular issues in specific cases but rather address the topic in more general terms.
The wording of questions about recent cases include:
Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton

• In June, the Supreme Court upheld a Texas law meant to prevent minors from accessing sexual materials on the internet, through a requirement that adults prove they are 18 or over by submitting government-issued IDs in order to access sexually oriented websites. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Trump v. J.G.G.

• In April, the Supreme Court said that those the administration is seeking to deport under the Alien Enemies Act must receive notice that they are subject to deportation within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek court review before such deportation occurs. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

United States v. Skrmetti

• In June, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law that prohibits medical providers from prescribing puberty-delaying medication or performing gender transition surgery for youth under 18. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Mahmoud v. Taylor

• In June, the Supreme Court ruled that  parents of elementary school students should be able to opt their children out of reading classes concerning stories about LGBTQ+ characters, if those stories conflict with the families’ religious beliefs. How much do you favor or oppose that decision?

TikTok v. Garland

• In January, the Supreme Court upheld a law requiring the social media app TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, to be sold or banned in the U.S. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission

• In June, the Supreme Court ruled that Wisconsin violated the Constitution when it refused to give Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc., the same exemption from the state’s unemployment tax that it gives to churches, religious schools, and some other religious groups. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Trump v. CASA

• In June, the Supreme Court limited the ability of federal district courts to issue nationwide injunctions blocking government actions found to be unconstitutional. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Obergefell v. Hodges

• In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Trump v. United States.

• In July 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, while there is no immunity for unofficial acts, former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts as president. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?