All hail Chief Justice Marshall

A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that, even when given four multiple choice options, only 28% of Americans were able to identify the current chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. 53% of respondents admitted their ignorance, while a staggering 8% chose Thurgood Marshall, who has been dead since 1993 and was never chief justice. This marks a notable increase in ignorance over the past 25 years, as shown in the below graphic (note that in November 1986, the chief's position had just been passed to William Rehnquist after the retirement of Warren Burger on September 26).

I think there are a number of reasons for this increase in ignorance, but the implications are troubling. At best, this would indicate that Roberts has been a fairly neutral chief, and managed to avoid major controversy (for better or worse). But at worst, it indicates an amazing lack of engagement by a populace that has become increasingly distracted from some of the more central issues that face our nation.

How can people be expected to care about Roberts' more controversial stances if they don't even know who he is?