Ahead of the Senate’s deliberations over Kavanaugh, here’s a look at where the public stands on some of the major legal, political and social issues that could come before the Supreme Court in the years ahead.
A week after Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court, the public is split in its early views of the nomination.
Trump has successfully appointed more federal appeals court judges so far in his presidency than his two predecessors combined had at the same point in theirs. And with his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Trump soon could install his second justice on the nation’s highest court, too.
A majority of Americans now say the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution means today, representing a shift in public opinion.
The U.S. has more foreign students enrolled in its colleges and universities than any other country in the world. Explore data about foreign students in the U.S. higher education system.
The contentious Senate debate over Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court has cast a spotlight on deep partisan and ideological divisions in Congress – and in the public – over how the U.S. Supreme Court should interpret the Constitution when making its decisions.
When President Donald Trump nominated federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia, he chose a candidate whose professional background is very much in line with previous and current justices.
A few weeks after Gorsuch's nomination, 44% of Americans say they favor the Senate confirming him, while 32% are opposed; roughly a quarter offer no opinion.
Justices who were younger than 45 when they took the oath of office served an average of 21.6 years on the court; those who were ages 45 to 49 served an average of 19.4 years.