About half of the public (49%) say the decisions of the Supreme Court should be based on its understanding of what the Constitution “means in current times,” while roughly as many (46%) say decisions should be based on what the Constitution “meant as it was originally written.”
But Republicans—by more than two-to-one (69% to 8%)—say the justices should base their rulings on the Constitution’s original meaning rather than on what it means in current times.