2.28.2006

John Paul...um, Ringo?

I normally tend to stay away from law nerd posts, but I had to comment on this one - most Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice.

According to a December 2005 national survey conducted by FindLaw, only 43 percent of American adults can name at least one justice who is currently serving on the nation's highest court. Fifty-seven percent of Americans can't name any current U.S. Supreme Court justices.

The percentages of Americans who could name each current justice were as follows:

Sandra Day O'Connor - 27%
Clarence Thomas - 21%
John Roberts - 16%
Antonin Scalia - 13%
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - 12%
Anthony Kennedy - 7%
David Souter - 5%
Stephen Breyer - 3%
John Paul Stevens - 3%

This problem is only magnified by the fact that Sandra Day O'Connor is no longer even on the court. And John Roberts was just all over the news a few monhts ago, and he sits in third.

Another interesting thing is that all of the 'liberal' justices are at the bottom of the court. And look at Breyer and Stevens. You'd think people would be able to recall the name of an ice cream and a pope. Additionally, I'm surprised that a significant chunk of people know of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Even though she is one of the rare females to hold the post, I'd venture that nearly all people could not name her, as J. O'Connor certainly took the limelight.

posted by brian at 6:56 PM | Permalink

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