58% say cases brought against Trump in 2023 and 2024 were justified
Also:
- Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court dipped in November to 44%, the lowest in a year
- Attention to news about the Court is higher than in September
- A large majority says the president must obey the Supreme Court; smaller majority says lower federal court limits on president’s executive orders are a proper exercise of judicial power
Please note: Complete Poll results and methodology information can be found online at law.marquette.edu/poll
MILWAUKEE – A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds 55% say the Department of Justice has filed unjustified criminal cases against President Donald Trump’s political opponents, while 45% think the cases are justified. Recent cases have been brought against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Views of these prosecutions are closely divided among Republicans and independents. Among Republicans, 48% believe unjustified cases have been filed, while 52% say the cases are justified. Among independents, 47% say cases are unjustified and 51% say they are justified. Among Democrats, 65% say cases are unjustified, while 35% say cases are justified.
In contrast to the current prosecutions, 58% say the federal and state criminal cases brought against Trump in 2023 and 2024 were justified, with 42% saying they were unjustified. Partisan differences are much greater concerning the prosecutions of Trump than for the cases against Trump’s opponents. Among Republicans, 77% say the cases against Trump were unjustified, with 23% saying they were justified. With independents, 68% say the cases against Trump were justified and 29% say they were unjustified, while 90% of Democrats say those cases were justified and 10% say they were not.
Table 1 shows the comparison of cases brought against Trump opponents and those against Trump by party identification. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Are cases against Trump opponents and against Trump justified, by party identification
Among adults
| Party ID | Justified or unjustified | |
| Filed unjustified cases | Filed justified cases | |
| Cases against Trump opponents | ||
| Republican | 48 | 52 |
| Independent | 47 | 51 |
| Democrat | 65 | 35 |
| Cases against Trump | ||
| Republican | 77 | 23 |
| Independent | 29 | 68 |
| Democrat | 10 | 90 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Nov. 5-12, 2025 | ||
| Question: Do you think the U.S. Justice Department has filed unjustified criminal cases against Donald Trump’s political opponents, or do you think the cases are justified? | ||
| Question: Do you think the U.S. Justice Department and state prosecutors filed unjustified criminal cases against Donald Trump in 2023-2024, or do you think the cases were justified? | ||
The poll was conducted Nov. 5-12, 2025, among 1,052 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points.
Approval of the Supreme Court
Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court dipped to 44% in November, down from 50% in September. Disapproval of the Court rose to 56% from September’s 50%. Approval of the Court suffered a sharp decline in May and July 2022, with approval typically in the low-to-mid 40% range in bimonthly polling since then. Approval rose through the second half of 2024 and 2025 until this month’s decline. The current 44% approval was the lowest since July 2024, when approval was at 43%. Table 2 shows approval of the Court since September 2020.
Table 2: United States Supreme Court approval
Among adults
| Poll dates | Approval | ||
| Net | Approve | Disapprove | |
| 11/5-12/25 | -12 | 44 | 56 |
| 9/15-24/25 | 0 | 50 | 50 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -2 | 49 | 51 |
| 5/5-15/25 | 6 | 53 | 47 |
| 3/17-27/25 | 8 | 54 | 46 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | 2 | 51 | 49 |
| 12/2-11/24 | -4 | 48 | 52 |
| 10/1-10/24 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 7/24-8/1/24 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 5/6-15/24 | -22 | 39 | 61 |
| 3/18-28/24 | -6 | 47 | 53 |
| 2/5-15/24 | -20 | 40 | 60 |
| 11/2-7/23 | -18 | 41 | 59 |
| 9/18-25/23 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 7/7-12/23 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 5/8-18/23 | -18 | 41 | 59 |
| 3/13-22/23 | -12 | 44 | 56 |
| 1/9-20/23 | -6 | 47 | 53 |
| 11/15-22/22 | -12 | 44 | 56 |
| 9/7-14/22 | -20 | 40 | 60 |
| 7/5-12/22 | -23 | 38 | 61 |
| 5/9-19/22 | -11 | 44 | 55 |
| 3/14-24/22 | 9 | 54 | 45 |
| 1/10-21/22 | 6 | 52 | 46 |
| 11/1-10/21 | 8 | 54 | 46 |
| 9/7-16/21 | -1 | 49 | 50 |
| 7/16-26/21 | 21 | 60 | 39 |
| 9/8-15/20 | 33 | 66 | 33 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Nov. 5-12, 2025 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job? | |||
There are substantial partisan differences in views of the Supreme Court, with Republicans much more approving (74%) than independents (33%) or Democrats (17%). The recent trend in approval by party identification is shown in Table 3. Republican net approval fell by 14 points from September to November and independent net approval declined by 20 points. Democrats showed less change, down 4 points in net approval.
Table 3: United States Supreme Court approval, by party ID
Among adults
| Poll dates | Approval | ||
| Net | Approve | Disapprove | |
| Republican | |||
| 11/5-12/25 | 48 | 74 | 26 |
| 9/15-24/25 | 62 | 81 | 19 |
| 7/7-16/25 | 62 | 81 | 19 |
| 5/5-15/25 | 56 | 78 | 22 |
| 3/17-27/25 | 58 | 79 | 21 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | 68 | 84 | 16 |
| 12/2-11/24 | 48 | 74 | 26 |
| 10/1-10/24 | 36 | 68 | 32 |
| 7/24-8/1/24 | 34 | 67 | 33 |
| 5/6-15/24 | 14 | 57 | 43 |
| Independent | |||
| 11/5-12/25 | -34 | 33 | 67 |
| 9/15-24/25 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 5/5-15/25 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 3/17-27/25 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 12/2-11/24 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 10/1-10/24 | -18 | 41 | 59 |
| 7/24-8/1/24 | -22 | 39 | 61 |
| 5/6-15/24 | -48 | 26 | 74 |
| Democrat | |||
| 11/5-12/25 | -66 | 17 | 83 |
| 9/15-24/25 | -62 | 19 | 81 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -64 | 18 | 82 |
| 5/5-15/25 | -38 | 31 | 69 |
| 3/17-27/25 | -38 | 31 | 69 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | -62 | 19 | 81 |
| 12/2-11/24 | -58 | 21 | 79 |
| 10/1-10/24 | -54 | 23 | 77 |
| 7/24-8/1/24 | -58 | 21 | 79 |
| 5/6-15/24 | -54 | 23 | 77 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Nov. 5-12, 2025 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job? | |||
Thirty percent say they have heard or read a lot about the Court over the last month, 60% have heard a little, and 10% have heard nothing at all. Those hearing a lot about the Court rose from 22% in September. This is the highest level of attention to the Court since December 2024, with the exception of July 2025 following the Court’s release of a number of major decisions in June. At that point, 34% said they had heard or read a lot about the Court during the previous month. Table 4 shows the attention cycle over the last year. Typically, attention rises from winter to summer as the Court hands down most major decisions in June. Attention this November is considerably higher than either October or December 2024.
Table 4: Attention to news about the Supreme Court
Among adults
| Poll dates | Hear or read about the Court | ||
| A lot | A little | Nothing at all | |
| 11/5-12/25 | 30 | 60 | 10 |
| 9/15-24/25 | 22 | 61 | 18 |
| 7/7-16/25 | 34 | 51 | 15 |
| 5/5-15/25 | 25 | 60 | 15 |
| 3/17-27/25 | 25 | 63 | 12 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | 17 | 68 | |
