How much trust do you have in the Courts?

Background

Public trust in the American court system has become one of the most closely watched measures of civic health in the United States. According to the National Center for State Courts, 62 percent of registered voters expressed a great deal or some confidence in state courts in its 2025 survey, a figure that has held essentially steady for three years running. At the federal level, however, the picture is more strained. A Gallup poll conducted in September 2025 found that only 49 percent of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the judicial branch headed by the U.S. Supreme Court, near the record low of 47 percent set in 2022. Meanwhile, the Annenberg Public Policy Center reported in March 2025 that trust in the Supreme Court specifically had fallen 27 percentage points since 2019, from 68 percent to just 41 percent. Much of this decline traces to the 2022 Dobbs decision overturning federal abortion protections, along with broader concerns about whether courts operate fairly for all Americans.

Those who express confidence in the courts point to the judiciary's role as a stabilizing check on the other branches of government and note that courts — especially state courts — still outpace both the executive and legislative branches in public trust. Supporters of the current system also note that younger Americans appear more optimistic, with the National Center for State Courts finding that voters ages 18 to 29 are more likely than older cohorts to view state courts as fair, transparent, and hardworking. On the other side, critics cite deep partisan divisions: Gallup found that 81 percent of Republicans but only 23 percent of Democrats expressed trust in the federal judicial branch in 2025. A Pew Charitable Trusts survey released in August 2025 found that one in three U.S. adults live in households that have had a court case, and among those with direct experience, 35 percent said their confidence in courts decreased afterward, compared with only 14 percent who said it increased. Concerns about a two-tiered system of justice — shaped by politics, wealth, and racial bias — also weigh heavily, with only 44 percent of Americans telling the National Center for State Courts that courts provide equal justice to all, down from 62 percent in 2014.

The stakes of declining trust are significant. Courts depend on public confidence to maintain their authority and independence, and scholars at the Annenberg Public Policy Center have found that civics knowledge and experiences like jury service are positively associated with greater belief in the legitimacy of the judiciary. If trust continues to erode, it could undermine compliance with court rulings and weaken the rule of law itself. The debate touches every American who may one day encounter the legal system, whether through a traffic ticket, a custody dispute, a debt case, or a constitutional question before the Supreme Court. How the public ultimately answers the question of trust in the courts will shape not only judicial reform efforts but the broader health of American democratic governance.