Poll: What Americans Know About the U.S. Supreme Court and Want Changed

A new C-SPAN poll of awareness and knowledge of the U.S. Supreme Court shows that nearly nine in ten American voters (88 percent) say the Court has an impact on their everyday lives -- but only half (49 percent) of respondents could name a specific case heard by the Court. The survey of 801 voters conducted for C-SPAN on Sept. 17 by Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, LLC, also indicates the public supports major changes to the Court, most notably revisiting the concept of constitutionally-guaranteed lifetime appointments. Nearly eight in ten respondents (79 percent) know there is no mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices; 56 percent of those surveyed said would prefer that justices do not receive lifetime appointments. ... Another major change to the Court favored by survey respondents is televised oral arguments; nearly two in three (65 percent) want cameras in the Supreme Court (tracking closely with a 61 percent finding in a July 2009 C-SPAN poll conducted directly before the Sotomayor hearings).