Datafolha: Negative Assessment of Brazil's Supreme Court Rises to 47%, Hitting Record - Folha de S.Paulo

The negative assessment of the work of Brazil’s Supreme Court justices rose from 40% in May to 47% currently, the highest level in the historical series that began in 2019, according to a Datafolha poll released Saturday (26). The positive assessment stood at 18%, matching the lowest level ever recorded, in December 2019. Another 31% consider the court’s work average, while 4% did not express an opinion.

Among Lula (PT) voters, 32% rate the justices’ work as excellent or good, compared with 6% of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) voters. Among those who rate it negatively, 69% of Flávio voters consider the work poor or very poor, compared with 24% of Lula voters. For 33% of Brazilians, the Supreme Court’s actions hurt Flávio’s candidacy more than they help it; 23% say the same regarding Lula.

The poll also measured acceptance of conduct by Supreme Court justices. The most rejected practice is ruling on a case involving a person whose lawyer is a relative of the justice, considered unacceptable by 88%. Accepting invitations to events paid for by companies with cases before the court is unacceptable to 85%, while making decisions that benefit or harm candidates during the electoral period is unacceptable to 82%. The least rejected practices — although still disapproved of by a majority — are being a partner in a private company (78%), receiving payments for speaking engagements from private companies (78%), and publicly commenting on cases under consideration (71%).