This book examines the dynamic and politically consequential relationship between US Supreme Court rulings and public opinion. It argues that the ideological alignment between the Court and the public is a critical, yet fluctuating, feature of American politics. Using the period surrounding Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and the Court’s subsequent rightward shift as a central case study, the analysis explores how and when the Court moves in and out of step with public sentiment, with the 2022 Dobbs decision serving as a pivotal example of an unpopular ruling that triggered significant backlash. The book introduces an innovative methodology, leveraging annual surveys from 2020 to 2024 that directly compare public preferences with the issues in cases before the Court. Key findings reveal that while the Court’s rulings shifted sharply out of line with the average American after 2020, they later moved back toward closer alignment. This was achieved not through ideological moderation but through mechanisms like docket selection, where the Court took up cases in which the conservative outcome was popular. This study demonstrates that the Court’s relationship with public opinion is a fast-moving dynamic that shapes judicial legitimacy, public backlash, and the Court’s strategic behavior.