Americans Split On Ideology of Next Supreme Court Justice

For Immediate Release
United States Public Opinion Poll
Page 1 of 6
SUPREME COURT
Americans Split on Ideology of

Next Supreme Court Justice
Two-in-five disagree with appointing Hillary Rodham Clinton to replace the
departing John Paul Stevens, including 73% of Republicans.
[NEW YORK – Apr. 27, 2010] – Americans hold

differing views on the ideology of Barack Obama's KEY FINDINGS
prospective Supreme Court nominee, but a
plurality disagree with the American President ¾ 30% want a liberal to replace Stevens,
selecting Hillary Rodham Clinton for the position, 32% prefer a conservative, 15% want a
a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found. justice with no specific ideology
In the online survey of a representative sample of ¾ Low level of support for two current
1,002 American adults, 30 per cent of cabinet members to replace Stevens:
respondents say they would replace departing Janet Napolitano at 24%, Eric Holder at
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens with a 27%
strong or moderate liberal, 32 per cent would
prefer to have a strong or moderate conservative, ¾ 38% would agree with appointing Hillary
and 15 per cent would rather appoint a person
Rodham Clinton to the Supreme Court;
with no specific ideology.
43% disagree
Democrats (51%) prefer a liberal judge, while Full topline results are at the end of this release.
Republicans (55%) choose a conservative.
From April 14 and April 15, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion
More than a third of Independents (35%) would conducted an online survey among 1,002 randomly selected
American adults who are Springboard USA panelists. The
pick a conservative judge, 23 per cent select a
margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/-
liberal, and 22 per cent opt for a person with no 3.1%. The results have been statistically weighted according to
specific ideology. the most current education, age, gender and region Census
data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult
population of the United States. Discrepancies in or between
Three lawyers who currently serve in Obama's
totals are due to rounding.
cabinet have been mentioned—on and off—as
possible choices for the Supreme Court vacancy.
One-in-five Americans (24%) would agree with
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs, 877-730-3570, mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Page 2 of 6
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano replacing Stevens, but 39 per cent disagree. The public
is divided in its assessment of current Attorney General Eric Holder (27% would agree with his
appointment, 32% disagree).
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is also a polarizing choice, with 38 per cent of respondents
agreeing with her appointment, and 43 per cent voicing disagreement.
The level of disagreement with seeing Rodham Clinton in the Supreme Court reaches 51 per cent among
Independents, and 73 per cent among Republicans. Conversely, almost two-thirds of Democrats (64%)
would welcome her appointment.
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AngusReidGlobal
CONTACT:
Page 3 of 6
Supreme Court
Over the course of the past week, have you followed each one of these stories in the media? –
The impending retirement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
Political Affiliation
Total Democrat Republican Independent
Yes, very closely 12% 16% 15% 9%
Yes, moderately closely 22% 25% 25% 23%
Yes, but not too closely 29% 28% 27% 32%
No, I have not followed this story at all 37% 32% 33% 35%
Supreme Court
President Obama will soon nominate a Supreme Court Justice who will replace John Paul Stevens.
Do you think the next Supreme Court nominee should have a specific ideology?
A strong liberal 10% 16% 9% 6%
A moderate liberal 20% 35% 9% 17%
A moderate conservative 21% 17% 26% 26%
A strong conservative 11% 4% 29% 9%
No ideology 15% 9% 13% 22%
Not sure 24% 19% 13% 21%
CONTACT:
Page 4 of 6
Supreme Court
There has been some talk about some current cabinet members being appointed to the Supreme
Court. Would you agree or disagree with each one of them being appointed to the Supreme Court?
Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security
Strongly agree 6% 12% 4% 3%
Moderately agree 18% 25% 12% 20%
Moderately disagree 13% 15% 12% 11%
Strongly disagree 26% 12% 46% 35%
Not sure 37% 36% 26% 31%
Supreme Court
Eric Holder, Attorney General
Not sure 41% 41% 31% 36%
CONTACT:
Page 5 of 6
Supreme Court
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
Not sure 18% 12% 11% 17%
CONTACT:
Page 6 of 6
Angus Reid Public Opinion is a practice of Vision Critical—a global research and technology company
specializing in custom online panels, private communities, and innovative online methods. Vision Critical is a
leader in the use of the Internet and rich media technology to collect high-quality, in-depth insights for a wide
array of clients. Dr. Angus Reid and the Angus Reid Strategies team are pioneers in online research
methodologies, and have been conducting online surveys since 1995
Vision Critical is now one of the largest market research enterprises in the world. In addition to its five
offices in Canada—located in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, and Montreal—the firm also has
offices in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, London, Paris and Sydney. Its team of specialists
provides solutions across every type and sector of research, and currently serves over 200
international clients.
Angus Reid Public Opinion polls are conducted using the Angus Reid Forum
(www.angusreidforum.com), Springboard America (www.springboardamerica.com) and Springboard
UK (www.springboarduk.com) online panels, which are carefully recruited to ensure representation
across all demographic and psychographic segments of these populations. Panel members pass
through rigorous screening and a double opt-in process ensuring highly motivated and responsive
members. These premier online survey platforms present respondents with highly visual, interactive,
and engaging surveys, ensuring that panel members provide thoughtful and reliable responses.
Each survey is actively sampled and weighted to model that characteristics of the universe required
and employs the latest in quality control techniques to ensure data validity.
Angus Reid, the only public opinion firm to exclusively use online methods to follow the views of the
electorate during the 2008 federal campaign, offered the most accurate prediction of the results of
Canada’s 40th election.
http://bit.ly/4zxfIS
Since 2006, Angus Reid has covered eight provincial elections in Canada—more than any other
pollster in the country—and the results have accurately predicted the outcome of each of these
democratic processes.
More information on the way Angus Reid conducts public opinion research can be found at
http://bit.ly/3z0uII
- 30 -
For more information, please contact

our spokesperson listed in the footnote.
Copies of this poll are available on our website:

http://www.visioncritical.com/category/global-opinions-and-trends
CONTACT:

Americans Split On Ideology of Next Supreme Court Justice

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For Immediate Release

United States Public Opinion Poll

Americans Split on Ideology of

[NEW YORK – Apr. 27, 2010] – Americans hold

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AngusReidGlobal

Yes, very closely 12% 16% 15% 9%

Yes, moderately closely 22% 25% 25% 23%

Yes, but not too closely 29% 28% 27% 32%

A strong liberal 10% 16% 9% 6%

A moderate liberal 20% 35% 9% 17%

A moderate conservative 21% 17% 26% 26%

A strong conservative 11% 4% 29% 9%

No ideology 15% 9% 13% 22%

Not sure 24% 19% 13% 21%

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security

Strongly agree 6% 12% 4% 3%

Moderately agree 18% 25% 12% 20%

Moderately disagree 13% 15% 12% 11%

Strongly disagree 26% 12% 46% 35%

Not sure 37% 36% 26% 31%

Eric Holder, Attorney General

Strongly agree 6% 10% 5% 5%

Moderately agree 21% 27% 14% 21%

Moderately disagree 10% 12% 9% 9%

Strongly disagree 22% 10% 40% 28%

Not sure 41% 41% 31% 36%

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State

Strongly agree 17% 34% 6% 12%

Moderately agree 21% 30% 10% 20%

Moderately disagree 12% 11% 15% 16%

Strongly disagree 31% 13% 58% 35%

Not sure 18% 12% 11% 17%

For more information, please contact

Copies of this poll are available on our website:

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