10 percent of recent college grads think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court
According to a survey by an education advocacy group, nearly 10 percent of recent college graduates think Judge Judy is a Supreme Court Justice.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) comissioned a survey of more than 1,100 liberal arts colleges and universities. Graduates and the public at large were asked questions drawn from standard high school civics curricula. According to ACTA, the questions emphasized the content of the U.S. Constitution and the basic workings of the government. A smaller number of questions also asked about prominent figures currently serving in the federal government.
Some of the findings reported by ACTA:
- Only 20.6 percent of respondents could identify James Madison as the Father of the Constitution. More than 60 percent thought the answer was Thomas Jefferson - despite the fact that Jefferson, as U.S. ambassador to France, was not present during the Constitutional Convention.
- College graduates performed little better: Only 28.4 percent named Madison, and 59.2 percent chose Jefferson.
- How do Americans amend the Constitution? More than half of college graduates didn’t know. Almost 60 percent of college graduates failed to identify correctly a requirement for ratifying a constitutional amendment.
- Almost 40 percent of college graduates didn’t know that Congress has the power to declare war.
- College graduates were even confused about the term lengths of members of Congress. Almost half could not recognize that senators are elected to six- year terms and representatives are elected to two-year terms.
- Less than half of college graduates knew that presidential impeachments are tried before the U.S. Senate.
- And 9.6 percent of college graduates marked that Judith Sheindlin - “Judge Judy” on TV - was on the Supreme Court.
Older respondents performed signifcantly better than younger ones. For example, 98.2 percent of college graduates over the age of 65 knew that the president cannot establish taxes. But only 73.8 percent of college graduates aged 25–34 answered correctly.
Most college graduates over age 65 knew how to amend the Constitution - 76.7 percent answered correctly. But among college graduates aged 25–34, less than a third chose the right answer, and over half answered that the president must ratify an amendment,
ACTA also reported that 18 percent of the schools surveyed require students to take even one survey course in American history or government before they graduate.
How the survey was conducted
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni commissioned GfK to conduct a survey of the American public and of college graduates. Results are based on 1,000 interviews of adults nationwide, ages 18+. Interviews were conducted Aug. 28-30, 2015 through GfK’s OmniWeb KnowledgePanel - an online panel that covers 97% of the American public. The margin of error on weighted data is +/- 3 percentage points for the full sample and is higher for subgroups.
Sample Question 1:
What is one responsibility that modern Presidents have that was not described in the Constitution?
A. Commanding the armed forces
B. Granting pardons
C. Appointing Supreme Court justices
D. Proposing an annual budget to Congress
Correct answer: D
Sample Question 2:
The paragraph below is about the Supreme Court case of Schenck v. The United States (1919). In this case, Schenck was prosecuted for having violated the Espionage Act of 1917 by publishing and distributing lea ets that opposed the military draft and U.S. entry into the First World War. The court ruled in favor of the United States. Below is an excerpt from the majority opinion.
We admit that in . . . ordinary times the defendants . . . would have been within their constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done. the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man
in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. . . . The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the evils that Congress has a right to prevent.
What argument is the Supreme Court making in this decision?
A. Congress can limit free speech as it sees fit.
B. The right to free speech is basic to democracy and government may never limit it.
C. Rights are not absolute and the government may limit them in times of crisis.
D. The judiciary is powerless to overturn laws like the Espionage Act of 1917.
Correct answer: C
Sample Question 1:
What is one responsibility that modern Presidents have that was not described in the Constitution?
A. Commanding the armed forces
B. Granting pardons
C. Appointing Supreme Court justices
D. Proposing an annual budget to Congress
Correct answer: D
Sample Question 2:
The paragraph below is about the Supreme Court case of Schenck v. The United States (1919). In this case, Schenck was prosecuted for having violated the Espionage Act of 1917 by publishing and distributing lea ets that opposed the military draft and U.S. entry into the First World War. The court ruled in favor of the United States. Below is an excerpt from the majority opinion.
We admit that in . . . ordinary times the defendants . . . would have been within their constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done. the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man
in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. . . . The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the evils that Congress has a right to prevent.
What argument is the Supreme Court making in this decision?
A. Congress can limit free speech as it sees fit.
B. The right to free speech is basic to democracy and government may never limit it.
C. Rights are not absolute and the government may limit them in times of crisis.
D. The judiciary is powerless to overturn laws like the Espionage Act of 1917.
Correct answer: C
This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 3:07 PM with the headline "10 percent of recent college grads think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court."