Poll: Half of Americans Oppose or Unsure on Sotomayor, Respect Pro-Life Judges
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 12, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new national poll shows a majority of Americans either oppose the nomination of Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor or are unsure where they stand. The survey also showed Americans most strongly admire and respect Supreme Court judges who are pro-life on abortion.
The Opinion Dynamics poll conducted for Fox News and released Friday finds 32 percent of Americans oppose the Sotomayor along with another 22 percent who are not sure where they stand.
On the other hand, 46 percent of those polled say they support her nomination.
The results of the poll are similar to those for the most recent Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Alito, who saw 46 percent say they supported his nomination and 29 percent opposing it in a November 2005 Fox News survey.
The new poll found Democrats, 69 percent, are more supportive of the Sotomayor nomination than Republicans (19 percent) and independents (46 percent). Men and women are equally supportive of the woman who could become the third on the high court.
One main reason for the suppression in Sotomayor’s support is because 58 percent of Americans disagree with her statement that she can make better decisions on the bench because she is a Hispanic woman than can a white man.
The poll also found that Americans do not want a judge who makes up the law from bench, as Sotomayor appears to support because of her comments and her support for the Roe v. Wade decision.
Some 71 percent think judges should "only interpret the law" rather than basing legal rulings on their personal feelings while just 26 percent want judicial activists.
Meanwhile, the poll asked respondents across the country to name the current Supreme Court justice they most agree with or admire. Supreme Court judges who are pro-life received significantly more support.
Some 11 percent named Clarence Thomas, John Roberts received 8 percent and Antonin Scalia received 5 percent while pro-abortion Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg got 9 percent and Anthony Kennedy got three percent.
Half of Americans could not name one Supreme Court justice they admired.
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