WASHINGTON (AP) — At a time of greater political division, Americans’ confidence in their country’s legal system and courts has fallen to a record low of 35% this year, a new Gallup poll shows.
The United States has seen a sharp decline of 24 percentage points over the past four years, setting it apart from other wealthy countries where, on average, most people still have confidence in their systems.
The results come after a tumultuous period that included the destruction of nationwide abortion rights, the indictment of former President Donald Trump and subsequent dropping of federal charges, and his attacks on the integrity of the justice system.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
The decline was not limited to one end of the political spectrum. According to Gallup, trust fell among people who disapproved of the country’s leadership during Joe Biden’s presidency and among those who approved of it. The respondents were not asked about their party affiliations.
It has become normal for people who disapprove of the country’s leadership to also lose at least some faith in the justice system. Still, the 17-point drop among that group under Biden was dramatic, and the cases filed against Trump were likely factors, Gallup said.
Among those who approved of the country’s leadership, there was an 18-point drop between 2023 and 2024, possibly due to dissatisfaction with court rulings in Trump’s favor, Gallup found. Confidence in the justice system was above 60% among that group during the first three years of Biden’s presidency, but confidence fell this year.
Trump faced four criminal charges this year, but only a hush-money case in New York ended with a trial and conviction before he won the presidential race.
Since then, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases, which involved Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, has been largely stayed. Trump denies wrongdoing in all respects.
Other Gallup findings show that Democrats’ confidence in the Supreme Court fell 25 points between 2021 and 2022, the year the justices struck down constitutional protections for abortion. Their confidence rose slightly, to 34% in 2023, but fell again to 24% in 2024. The change comes after a Supreme Court ruling that Trump and other former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
By contrast, confidence in the court among Republicans was 71% in 2024.
The broader legal system also lost public trust faster than many other American institutions over the past four years. For example, confidence in the federal government also fell to 26%. That was a drop of 20 points – not as steep as the decline in confidence in the courts.
The decline in confidence is also steep compared to other countries in the world. Only a handful of other countries have seen larger declines over a four-year period. They include a 46-point decline in Myanmar during the period overlapping the return of military rule in 2021, a 35-point decline in Venezuela amid deep economic and political turmoil from 2012 to 2016 and a 28-point decline in Syria in the run-up to the crisis. and the early years of the Civil War.
The survey was based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,000 American adults between June 28 and August 1.
