As the Sotomayor confirmation hearings begin, it is clear Americans understand she will likely breeze through the Senate. A new Rasmussen poll out this morning shows an overwhelming majority think Sonia Sotomayor will soon be the newest member of the Supreme Court.
Yet even after the Supreme Court’s reversal of her ruling in a reverse discrimination case filed by New Haven firefighters, 84% of U.S. voters said they expected her to win confirmation. Fifty-eight percent (58%) characterized her confirmation as Very Likely. These numbers have remained largely unchanged since polling on her nomination first began.
But Americans still do not fully support her.
In our first survey after the president’s announcement, 45% of voters favored confirmation of Sotomayor, who, if approved by the Senate, will be the first Hispanic member of the high court. Twenty-nine percent (29%) opposed her confirmation, However, a month later, in a survey conducted on the two nights following the Supreme Court’s reversal of her best-known appellate court decision, only 37% said Sotomayor should be confirmed while 39% disagreed.
The hearings could sway public opinion in one way or the other as we learn more about Sotomayor’s views:
…66% of voters nationwide believe that well-qualified male and female judges would reach the same conclusion most of the time, although 17% disagree. By a virtually identical margin, 67% to 16%, voters believe the same is true of well-qualified white and Hispanic judges.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of voters also say the U.S. legal system should apply the law equally to all Americans rather than using the law to help those who have less power and influence.