Fewer Than a Third of Americans Know Supreme Court Rulings can't be appealed

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http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/09-13-2007/0004662377&EDATE=THU+Sep+13+2007,+01:10+PM

. . .

When asked "if a person disagrees with a ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court can he or she appeal the ruling to the Federal Court of Appeals?"
only 30 percent know that the high court rulings are final, 32 percent
think rulings can be appealed and 38 percent are "not sure" or "don't
know."

"These survey findings show just how important it is to educate all
Americans about their government and the Constitution that created it,"
said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy
Center. "The health of a democracy depends on an enlightened and engaged
citizenry."

Other findings include:

-- A majority of Americans, 55 percent, do not know that when the
Supreme Court rules five to four on a case the decision is the law
and needs to be followed. Fourteen percent believe the decision is
sent to Congress for reconsideration, seven percent believe the
decision is sent back to the lower courts and 34 percent simply
"don't know."

-- Only one in seven Americans (15 percent) can correctly name John
Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States while two-thirds of
Americans (66 percent) know at least one of the judges on the Fox
television show American Idol.
. . .