Most Americans can't name one Supreme Court justice

news.yahoo.com...

LONDON (Reuters) –According to a new survey released by the legal information website Findlaw.com, two-thirds of the 1,000 American adults polled couldn't name a single current justice, and just 1 percent were able to name all nine sitting justices.

(visit the link for the full news article).

As an American, I think people in this country should know who is on the court. Then again, I am not really suprised, considering how removed most Americans are from what is going on not only in our government, but also around the world.

What does everyone here at ATS think about this? Do you think people should know who is on the court, or at least know one justice?

Even if w did it makes no differance, we all thought we knew Obama was the better pick. We all though we where atacked by Terrorist's on 9/11 and we all thought we knew Iraq was hiding WMD's. The truth is what we know is wrong and what we dont know will set us free. Does knowing the name of some overpaid turncoat worth the time? No not really.

Honestly I dont know any elected official other than the pres/vis pres and the FL gov.

reply to post by Nathwa


My lack of knowledge in this subject, is a silent boycot of the system...don't confuse denial with ignorance...

But I do get the point ....ty

Im with Doc on this one. I have a problem with the current nepotism in the political spectrum, and the judicial branch is one of the bigger offenders in my book. Im sure they make decisions that impact our daily lives, but as far as MY life goes, what they decide has seemingly very little impact on me personally. sonic cheese burgers are still tasty, and My XBOX still has a red ring of death.

Now if they tried to outlaw cigarettes or something, you better believe I would write each of them a letter, but it just shows you where my priorities are,

We don't elect them, have nothing to do with their lifelong appointments, and hear diddly-poo about what they do outside of of Roe v Wade.

It matters not.

Most Brits couldn't name one MP either.

MP. Member of Parliament


[edit on 2-6-2010 by Tykonos]
or one member of the house of lords.

[edit on 2-6-2010 by Tykonos]

Knowing who is on the court is basically useless information. We citizens have no hand in electing them, and they sit on the court for life.

I know the name of most world leaders and about half of the congress but I only know the name of 1 supreme court judge, I'm trying to think of the name of that old lady on the SCOTUS.

Thank you all for your replies. I suppose you are right, in the sense that if we have no say in electing them, should we know who they are? Seems like a legitimate enough argument.

reply to post by drsmooth23


The Supreme Court makes decisions that concern all facets of federal law. It not only decides Constitutional issue, its decisions directly touch areas like: antitrust, taxation, intellectual property, drug laws, and environmental laws. You may think these areas do not touch your life, but they do.

Supreme Court decisions can decide how billions of dollars flow through commerce. For example, one issue that is currently before the supreme court is whether one can patent business methods. This decision could have huge implications for the finance and software industries. Many people may lose or gain jobs based on this one decision.

reply to post by PieKeeper


I am not good with names, but knowing who the Supreme Court justices are and what they stand for is important. While the people currently on the Supreme Court are there for life, politics will affect the future make up of the court. A supreme court nomination still has to get through the Senate, and the Senate could cave in to political pressure.