Should States Refuse To Follow Federal Mandates, When Their Residents Disagree? How Dangerous Is This?

Poll: Support grows for states to ignore federal courts

By Mark Hensch

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More Americans believe individual states should have a right to refuse federal court rulings, a new poll says.

 

The Rasmussen Reports survey released Friday finds an increasing number of likely U.S. voters believe states can disobey federal court rulings if their elected officials agree with them.

 

The poll follows a pair of controversial Supreme Court decisions issued last week on ObamaCare subsidies and same-sex marriage.

 

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Rasmussen found that 33 percent of likely U.S. voters think states should be able to ignore federal court rulings if their elected officials agree with them.

 

That number is up nine points from 24 percent during a similar survey last February.

 

Just over half (52 percent) disagree, down from 58 percent in the previous sampling.

 

Rasmussen Reports added that 15 percent remain undecided on the issue.

 

Friday’s poll also found that support for state disapproval of federal court rulings is rising regardless of political party.

 

Fifty percent of Republicans, 22 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of unaffiliated voters would back that response from their individual state governments.

 

Those numbers represent increasing support across all three demographics.

 

Rasmussen Reports also found that 50 percent of conservative voters support this idea, as do 27 percent of moderates and 15 percent of liberals.

  

The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on June 25 upholding ObamaCare subsidies.

 

It then ruled 5-4 a day later that states must recognize all same-sex marriages nationwide under the 14th Amendment’s equal protections clause.

 

The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters Tuesday and Wednesday for the new poll’s results. The group’s latest sampling has a 3-point margin of error with a 95 percent level of confidence.