WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� More Americans approve than disapprove of Ketanji Brown Jackson鈥檚 confirmation to the Supreme Court as its first Black female justice, a new poll finds, but that support is politically lopsided. And a majority of Black Americans 鈥� but fewer white and Hispanic Americans 鈥� approve of her confirmation.
Overall, 48% of Americans say they approve and 19% disapprove of Jackson鈥檚 confirmation to the high court according to the new poll from聽. The remaining 32% of Americans hold no opinion.
Jackson鈥檚 nomination聽. The findings suggest the confirmation did more to energize Biden鈥檚 Democratic base than it did to energize Republicans in opposition, despite vocal resistance from some GOP lawmakers who were largely united in voting against her April 7 confirmation.聽聽with a 53-47 tally.
Eighty percent of Democrats and only 18% of Republicans approve of Jackson鈥檚 confirmation to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. Among Republicans, though, fewer than half 鈥� 43% 鈥� say they disapprove of the Harvard law graduate鈥檚 confirmation. An additional 37% of Republicans hold neither opinion. Only 5% of Democrats disapprove; 15% say they hold neither opinion.
It鈥檚 not unusual for a relatively high share of Americans to express no opinion about a justice鈥檚 confirmation. In October 2018, after the vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh following a聽, 35% approved, 43% disapproved and 20% said they held neither opinion. And in October 2020, before the vote to聽聽o the seat of the聽, 30% were in favor to her being confirmed, 35% were opposed and 34% said they held neither opinion.
Jackson, 51, a federal appeals court judge in Washington, will join the court this summer when Breyer steps down. She will become the third Black person to sit on the court, following the late Justice Thurgood Marshall and current Justice Clarence Thomas. The court will for the first time have four women members and two Black members while聽聽of the court.
鈥淚t has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,鈥� Jackson said in聽聽after her confirmation. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e made it. We鈥檝e made it, all of us.鈥�
Kimberly Brown, 41, is among those who approve of Jackson鈥檚 confirmation. Brown, who lives in New York and works in health care, is an independent who leans Democratic and called Jackson鈥檚 confirmation 鈥渉istoric.鈥�
鈥淚 just feel like it鈥檚 a historic moment to see a Black woman nominated, and then to also be confirmed to the Supreme Court, which has never been done,鈥� said Brown, who is Black. 鈥淚鈥檓 just excited that she鈥檚 able to take all of the knowledge and skills that she鈥檚 developed over the course of her career and education and apply it ... in a seat on the highest court.鈥�
Brown said she watched some of Jackson鈥檚 hearings and felt Jackson 鈥減resented herself really well,鈥� answering questions from lawmakers thoughtfully and thoroughly.
Jackson鈥檚 hearings were marked by聽聽ranging from her sentencing record on聽聽to her views on teaching books on critical race theory in the classroom.
The poll shows about half of Americans, including about a quarter of Republicans, disapprove of how GOP senators handled the confirmation process; only about 2 in 10 of Americans approve. Nearly twice as many Americans approve of how Senate Democrats handled the process. Still, about a third of Americans say they don鈥檛 have an opinion either way for Republicans or Democrats.
Unlike Brown, Republican Gail Thompson, 77, of Washington state, said she felt Jackson was evasive in answering Republican lawmakers鈥� questions. Thompson, a retired medical assistant, said she also believed Jackson is 鈥渟oft on crime.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with what she鈥檚 done,鈥� said Thompson, who is white. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 really sad that she鈥檚 been appointed.鈥�
Brown and Thompson reflect not only the partisan divide but also something of a racial divide over Jackson鈥檚 confirmation. Among Black Americans, 63% approve and 18% disapprove of Jackson鈥檚 confirmation. Black voters were among the keys to Biden鈥檚 victory in the 2020 presidential election 鈥� about 9 in 10 supported him, according to AP VoteCast 鈥� but his approval rating among Black Americans has dipped substantially in AP-NORC polls conducted since his inauguration.
Approval of Jackson鈥檚 confirmation is lower among white and Hispanic Americans, at 46% and 41%, respectively, though similar percentages across racial and ethnic groups disapprove. Many white and Hispanic Americans say they hold neither opinion.
Overall, more Americans say they approve than disapprove of how Biden handled Jackson鈥檚 confirmation, 42% to 33%. About 8 in 10 Democrats approve; about two-thirds of Republicans disapprove.
Biden鈥檚 immediate predecessor, Donald Trump, nominated three conservative justices to the court 鈥� Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett 鈥� giving the court a 6-3 conservative advantage, which Jackson鈥檚 appointment will not change. Biden鈥檚 one-time boss, former President Barack Obama, nominated two justices 鈥� Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who is the court鈥檚 first Latina justice.
, according to the poll, but is similar to what it was in a February AP-NORC poll. Eighteen percent of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the high court, and 54% have some confidence. An additional 27% say they have hardly any confidence.
Republicans and Democrats have similar levels of confidence in the court. Views also are similar across race and ethnicity groups.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,085 adults was conducted April 14-18 using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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