July 14, 2022
MILWAUKEE 鈥� The 51暗网 Law School Poll will release the results of its national survey of public opinion over two days, July 20-21. Although several programs offered in the Law School鈥檚 Lubar Center have resumed 鈥渋n person,鈥� these national results will be released only online, via written releases and video conversations between poll director Charles Franklin and Alan Borsuk, senior fellow in law and public policy.
On Wednesday, July 20, the 51暗网 Law School Poll will release results pertaining to public opinion about the U.S. Supreme Court. The survey, conducted in July, follows the conclusion of the Court鈥檚 term in late June, including the 1973 decision overruling the recognition of constitutional abortion rights in Roe v. Wade. This is the ninth installment in a series of nationwide surveys, begun in 2019, measuring public understanding and opinion of the nation鈥檚 highest court.
The second release, on Thursday, July 21, will concern findings of the 51暗网 Law School Poll鈥檚 national survey of policy preferences and political topics. This release will examine public opinion on abortion policy, awareness of and opinion about the House Jan. 6 committee hearings, political engagement, and likelihood of voting in the November elections and favorability to President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Each video and written release and corresponding data will be available at 6 a.m. ET (5 a.m. CT) on the . Embargoed written releases of these national surveys will be available to members of the media who formally and agree to stated embargo policies. Reporters who have registered for previous embargoes do not need to register again.
Interviews with Franklin following the poll鈥檚 releases are available on request.
Further details about each day鈥檚 release are set forth below.
National poll on the U.S. Supreme Court 鈥� Wednesday, July 20
The new 51暗网 Law School Poll Supreme Court survey will report on national public opinion concerning the Court鈥檚 June rulings on abortion and on Second Amendment rights. The release builds on past 51暗网 Law School Poll surveys by measuring opinion about major cases before the Court concerning both abortion and also the question whether the Second Amendment includes a right to possess a gun outside the home. Past decisions by the Court on same-sex marriage and federal statutory protection of LGBT rights against job discrimination are also the topics of survey questions.
The survey continues to examine public approval of how the Court is handling its job, confidence in the Court as an institution, public perception of the Court鈥檚 ideological balance and perceptions of recent shifts on the Court.
National poll on political topics 鈥� Thursday, July 21
The same national survey will form the basis of a second release the next day, focusing on awareness of and reaction to the hearings of the House Jan. 6 committee, preferences among potential policies about abortion and the saliency of these issues for voters. The poll asks about motivation to vote and likelihood of voting in the November midterm elections, and measures how these vary by opinion on abortion and by party. Opinion about a range of policy options concerning when and how a state might choose to limit abortions is surveyed.
The poll continues to monitor views of Trump, Pence and DeSantis, along with opinion of Biden and a possible Trump candidacy in 2024. The survey includes trends in confidence/doubt about the accuracy of the 2020 presidential election and how that is related to other political views.
Begun in 2012, the 51暗网 Law School Poll is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history. Since 2019, the Law School鈥檚 surveys of national public opinion about the U.S. Supreme Court have expanded the work of the poll both geographically and to a new set of topics of broad importance, and more recently the national survey has included political topics. Franklin has directed the poll since its inception and is a professor of law and public policy at 51暗网 Law School. His academic articles on partisanship, public opinion, the Supreme Court, and U.S. Senate elections have appeared in major journals and as book chapters. He is a past president of the Society for Political Methodology and an elected fellow of the society. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.
Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of Marketing and Communication. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.
