Public Perceptions of the New Jersey Supreme Court - May, 2011

7/30/2019 Public Perceptions of the New Jersey Supreme Court - May, 2011

1/20

Neighborhood Research Corp.Sparta New Jersey

New Jersey SurveysMay 11-16, 2011

A review of the potential 2011electorate and their views on theState Supreme Court and their

decisions.


2/20

The Supreme Court Operates in Anonymity

78 percent of voters have not heard of Chief JusticeStuart Rabner. 84 percent have not heard of Justice

Virginia Long, the Courts longest serving member, on

the court since 1999.

Overall, the Supreme Court has an upside downFavorable/Unfavorable rating of 13-15 with 19%mixed. It is 15-0 with liberals, 17-15 with moderates

and 8-18 with conservatives.



3/20

The State Supreme Court is viewed as liberal,

and those who view it as liberal are negative.

Overall, 34 percent say the Supreme Court is liberal, 24percent moderate and 9 percent conservative.

Those who view it as liberal are 9-29 unfavorable while

those who say it is moderate are 21-1 favorable. Among those favorable to the court, 25 percent say it is

liberal, 42 percent moderate and 19 percentconservative. Among those unfavorable to the court,70 percent say it is liberal, 3 percent moderate and 10percent conservative.

Views on the court polarize the electorate.



4/20

Abbott Question Wording

The Abbott Court decisions require

wealthier, mostly suburban and rural

school districts to pay higher propertytaxes to keep property taxes down in

poorer, mostly urban districts. Do you

think these decisions were gooddecisions or bad decisions?



5/20

Voters Dislike the Abbott Decisions

by a 29-52 margin.

Overall, 27% of voters have heard of the Abbott Courtdecision and were able to correctly identify it.

Those aware of the case opposed it by 27-56. Liberals support Abbott by 43-32 while moderates

oppose it by 37-46 and conservatives by 22-56.

Generic Democrats (in legislative races) support it by

53-30 while generic Republicans are 17-65 againstapolarizing 71 point shift.



6/20

Urban Voters Are Lukewarm on Abbott.

Within the Abbott Districts (13% of the sample), 35%of voters could correctly identify the Abbott decision.

Overall only half of urban voters supported the Abbott

decision while 30% opposed it. Among those whocould correctly identify the decision, only 43%supported it while 36 percent are opposed.

37% of Africans had heard of Abbott, but overall,blacks backed the decision by only 53-21. 28% ofLatinos could identify this decision and they support itby a narrow 48-36.



7/20

Voters, by a 50-37 margin, wanted Governor

Christie to stand up to the Court

Governor Christie has said he will defy the State

Supreme Court if they order even more tax dollars

for poorer, mostly urban districts. Should he defy

the court? Liberals disagree, but only by 37-56 and moderates by

only 44-46, but conservatives support defying the courtby a whopping 52-26 margin. Generic Democrats

disagree by 30-57 while generic Republicans agree by59-24a solid 62 point shift.

Christie favorables supported the move by 63-19.



8/20

Abbott District Voters Split 43-43 on whether

Christie should have defied the Court.

Even voters in the Cities have had enough of theout-of-control Supreme Court.

Generic Democrats in the Abbotts (who outnumber

Republicans by 73-13), oppose defying the Court,but only by 38-45.

Even 35 percent of Obama Favorables in theAbbotts wanted Christie to stand up to the Court(54 percent opposed). Latinos support ed thatposition by 44-25 but Africans opposed it by 16-68.



9/20

Mount Laurel Question Wording

The Supreme Court Mount Laurel

decisions require every New Jersey town

to zone for high-density housing for lowerincome families and to subsidize the

property taxes on that housing. Do you

think these decisions were good decisionsor bad decisions?



10/20


11/20

Right to Choose v Byrne Wording

The Supreme Court decision in Right to

Choose v Byrne required taxpayers to pay for

abortions for women who could not afford

them. Do you think this is a good decision

or a bad decision?



12/20

By 26-62, voters oppose the RTC v Byrne

ruling mandating taxpayer paid abortions

Liberals support this decision, but only by 48-33.Moderates oppose it by 28-62 and conservatives by 18-73. Generic Republicans are opposed 17-74 and

generic Democrats split 41-42 against.

There is a split by religious attendance. Those whoattend services weekly (45%) oppose this decision by

15-73, those who never attend services (28%) oppose itby a smaller 37-49.

Men oppose it 30-58 and women by 24-63.



13/20

Just 11% believe judges should

have the power to raise taxes.

Is it proper for Judges to order the

legislature to increase taxes in certain

circumstances?

Only 21% of generic Democrats, 19% of Obamafavorables, 16% of Latinos and Africans, 15% of

Christie unfavorables and 13% of those in the AbbottDistricts agreed with this. And only 22% of those whosupport the Abbott decision agree with this statement.



14/20

Voters by 59-31 back replacing the Court

appointment process with direct election.

Should State Supreme Court Justices be elected

by the people or appointed by the Governor and

approved by the State Senate?

The idea of electing justices has support acrossthe board. Conservatives back it by 62-30,

moderates by 58-30 and liberals by a surprising65-26. Generic Republicans support it by 61-31and generic Democrats by a bigger 65-25.



15/20

Voters by 65-24 back Retention

Elections for Supreme Court Justices

In some states, Supreme Court Justices are

appointed for a term of six to eight years and then

have to go before the voters for retention elections

to stay on the court. Do you like this idea or not?

This concept actually has more appeal to liberals thanconservatives. While conservatives support this by 59-26 and generic Republicans by 59-28, moderates backthem by 69-22, generic Democrats by 69-21 and liberalsby a whopping 78-17.



16/20

Christies Unfavorables are lower

than October 2009

The Governors unfavorable ratings have fluctuated

between the high 20s and low 30s for much of the pasttwo years including the post-primary period.

His 29% unfavorable rating in this survey compares to31% as a candidate in October 2009.

Christies favorables have increased from 28% to 50%

in that same time. His numbers have improved from31-24 with men to 52-27 today and from 25-27 with

women to 48-32. His gains have been biggest amongthe most conservative voters.



17/20

The likely November electorate is

conservative and leans Republican.

Conservatives outnumber liberals among likely votersby 42-17, and an even bigger 44-17 among definite

voters, a small increase from 39-18 among definite

voters in October 2009. Just 32 percent consider themselves moderates, 31

percent with definite voters, down from 35 percent inOctober 2009.

The share of definite voters who consider themselvesconservative nearly equals the liberal and moderate total

combined.



18/20

Conclusions

The Supreme Court operates in anonymity and theJustices are unknown.

The Court is perceived as liberal and those who see it

that way are very negative. Voters strongly oppose the Abbott, Mount Laurel and

Right to Choose decisions and even voters in theAbbott Districts are skeptical of the decision.

The public would have supported Governor Christiehad he stood up to the Court.



19/20

Conclusions

Only a tiny fraction agree with political insiders,editorial writers and academics that the Supreme Courtshould be able to force the legislature to raise taxes.

The Court issue, if utilized by Republicans, has thepotential of polarizing the electorate in their favor,perhaps enough to deliver them the legislature.

The public across the board is very favorable to theidea of electing judges and even more supportive ofjudicial retention electionsand this has broadbipartisan and cross-ideological support.



20/20

Date post:	04-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	afphqnewjersey
View:	217 times
Download:	0 times

Public Perceptions of the New Jersey Supreme Court - May, 2011

Documents