Americans’ confidence in the legal system is at a record low
Image: Gallup
Following a historically significant decline over the past four years, a record-low 35% of Americans have confidence in the country’s courts and judicial systems, according to new polling from Gallup.
What’s going on? Each year since 2006, Gallup has asked Americans and residents of other nations around the world how much they trust their home countries’ judicial systems.
- Up until 2020, Americans’ perceptions of their courts were roughly in-line with the median for other wealthy OECD countries, with 50+% of each group typically expressing confidence.
- But the US has seen a sharp decline in judicial confidence since that point, falling from 59% in 2020 to a record-low 35% in 2024.
- Meanwhile, other OECD countries held steady at 55%-58% over that period.
The trend has been driven by both political parties
In recent years, confidence in the American court system has dropped for both those who approve and disapprove of US leadership under President Biden, according to Gallup.
- Democrats’ trust in the federal judicial branch fell from 50% to 25% between 2021 and 2022, a period that includes the SCOTUS decision overturning constitutional abortion rights established by Roe v. Wade.
- Gallup also notes recent legal cases against President-elect Trump – which he has consistently denounced as politically motivated – helps explain why Americans disapproving of Biden’s leadership have also lost trust in the judicial system since 2020.
Zoom out: The recent decline in judicial confidence among Americans ranks among the steepest Gallup has ever measured globally over a four-year period (dating back to 2006).
Among the nine nations with larger percentage-point drops than America (-24 points) are – Syria in the runup to and early years of civil war (-28 from 2009-2013), and Hong Kong after China approved a new national security law governing the island (-28 from 2016-2020).
📊 Flash poll: Do you personally have confidence in America’s judicial system and courts?
See a 360° view of what pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that it’s not surprising Americans have lost all faith in something as anti-democratic as an unelected body – with a majority appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote – granted lifetime fiefdoms to cast final judgement, without any accountability or ethics code.
- Others contend that many Americans currently believe “two systems of justice exist” – one for those with influence, connections and power, and another one for everyone else – and fixing that requires renewing trust at the grass roots, aka local and state judiciary.
- “Only 35% of Americans trust the US judicial system. This is catastrophic” –David Daley, The Guardian
- “Jury’s out on courting public’s trust in judiciary” –Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise Editorial Board
- “The Supreme Court Tanked Its Reputation. This Is the Way Back.” –Noah Feldman, Bloomberg
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that Americans shouldn’t trust a government that continuously sidesteps the Constitution and undermines their rights, as has been the norm for decades or centuries in the US.
- Others contend that many Americans have rightly lost trust in government institutions due to the series of major controversies that have played out over the past few years, including claims of stolen elections and politically motivated federal law-enforcement decisions.
- “Don’t trust the government with your privacy, property or your freedoms” –John & Nisha Whitehead, Washington Times
- “How American Institutions Went From Trust to Bust” –Gerard Baker, WSJ
- “In Memory of Justice” –Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review
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