Democrats and their media allies have spent the better part of the past decade openly slandering and undermining the integrity of the U.S. Supreme Court and its Republican-appointed majority, and that constant negativity was reflected in poor public approval polling for the court over the years.

In a surprise turn, however, a recent poll revealed that public approval of the nation's highest court has risen back above 50%, albeit just barely, for the first time in nearly three years, according to The Hill.

Though there is likely no single reason behind that positive development for the Supreme Court, there is little denying that the increase in public approval coincides with President Donald Trump's electoral victory and transition into the White House to begin a second term in office.

Majority approve of Supreme Court again

The Marquette Law School revealed this week that it surveyed more than a thousand U.S. adults between Jan. 27-Feb. 5, with a margin of error of 3.5%, and asked a series of questions pertaining to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The pollsters found that 51% of Americans approved of the court while 49% disapproved, a three-point swing on either end from the results of an early December poll that showed 48% and 52% disapproval, which itself was an improvement upon the 45% approve and 55% disapprove in an early October poll.

Per Marquette's numbers, the last time that the Supreme Court had a positive approval rating was in March 2022, when the pollsters registered 54% approval and 45% disapproval, but those numbers plummeted just a few months later in July 2022 to a shocking low of 38% approval and 61% disapproval -- undoubtedly spurred on the screeching of Democrats and the media about the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

There is still a long way to go yet to reach the prior high mark of 66% approval and 31% disapproval that was noted by the pollsters in a September 2020 poll, shortly before President Trump was replaced in the White House by former President Joe Biden.

Can the Supreme Court be ignored?

The Marquette Law School pollsters also asked respondents for their views on whether a president has the authority to ignore unfavorable Supreme Court rulings or is bound to adhere to their decisions, and found that there is little debate on that issue, as just 17% believed high court rulings could be ignored while 83% said they must be followed.

It is unclear why, exactly, that particular question was asked, but it could have been spurred on by speculative chatter from Democrats and the media about the prospect of the Trump administration ignoring rulings from all levels of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, that block or otherwise interfere with the implementation of their policy agenda.

Indeed, though it was published after the polling took place, the ongoing discussions of the past few weeks and months were summed up in a Politico report this week that cited prior statements and social media posts from Vice President J.D. Vance that were suggestive of a defiant attitude toward court decisions that don't align with or support the administration's plans.

That said, the poll's question could also have been sparked in part by the appearance of former President Biden blatantly ignoring a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that blocked his unconstitutional plan to forgive approximately $400 billion in student loan debt -- a decision that Biden's administration sidestepped with admittedly narrower alternative plans that achieved the same desired effect for a smaller segment of the population, per Newsweek.

Chief Justice Roberts called out defiance court rulings

One individual who certainly believes that the Supreme Court's decisions must not be ignored is Chief Justice John Roberts, who briefly touched on the subject in his year-end report released in December that lamented a variety of "threats" posed against "judicial independence," including the "defiance of judgments lawfully entered by courts of competent jurisdiction."

"Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system -- sometimes in cases with major ramifications for executive or legislative power or other consequential topics," Roberts wrote. "Nevertheless, for the past several decades, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have been followed, and the Nation has avoided the standoffs that plagued the 1950s and 1960s."

"Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings," the chief justice added. "These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected."