Poll: Americans Fear Romney Would Further Shift Supreme Court Toward Big Business

A newly released Hart Research Associates poll indicates that Americans fear that if Mitt Romney is elected president, he will appoint Supreme Court Justices who will shift the court even more in favor of big business at the expense of everyday Americans. Hart also found that the Supreme Court is a significant factor for voters in the upcoming election.

The poll was conducted for the Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and People for the American Way.It consisted of a national online survey of 1,007 registered, likely voters between August 24-30, 2012 and two focus groups in Philadelphia

It found that 63 percent of all voters, and more than half of independent voters and presidential "swing" voters, say the issue of who will serve on the Supreme Court is an important consideration in their vote this year. According to the survey, what most concerns voters - a full 54 percent --is their worry that Romney will nominate justices who will consistently favor corporations over ordinary Americans.

In contrast, voters believe that Obama is more likely to choose justices who "will protect the rights of average people, not just the wealthy and powerful." And they believe President Obama is much more likely to appoint justices who "would uphold the progress we have made on civil rights and women's rights." The voters surveyed were also concerned about Romney's opposition to Supreme Court decisions favoring women's rights, including Roe v. Wade, Indeed, 59 percent of all voters, and 62 percent of swing voters, say Romney's belief that women have no constitutional right to have an abortion gives them less confidence in Romney.

"If the next president fills even one vacancy on the Supreme Court, he could change the court, and America, for decades," said Nan Aron, President of the Alliance for Justice Action Campaign. "This poll makes clear that the American people don't want the president to further shift the court toward corporate special interests for a generation or more."

"Americans are convinced that a Romney Court would make it harder for women and minorities to lead their day-to-day lives," said Nancy Zirkin, Executive Vice President of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. "As the Court considers affirmative action and same-sex marriage, its role as the last arbiter of equality for millions of disadvantaged Americans is clear. And Romney will have to quell these fears if he ever hopes to gain the trust of these communities."

"We pick a president for four years, but he picks Supreme Court justices for a lifetime," said Michael Keegan, President of People For the American Way. "This polling shows that Americans are concerned about how this election will affect the future of the Supreme Court, and know that a Mitt Romney presidency would skew the Court ever further to the Right."

Sixty percent of all voters, and 63 percent of swing voters said they had less confidence Romney would appoint the right kinds of justices to the Supreme Court when told that Romney favored the Citizens United decision, which led to opening the floodgates to massive corporate campaign contributions. Voters are influenced as well by a number of recent 5-4 decisions siding with corporations over people, including Wal-Mart over its female employees, AT&T over its customers, and the case decided against Lily Ledbetter that led to the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

A full memo on the poll and focus groups is below. A pdf of the memo is availablehere.