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Reuters
13 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
US Supreme Court justices disclose income from book deals and teaching
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a book advance of more than $2 million for her bestselling memoir, and other justices reported lucrative law school teaching positions in annual financial disclosure forms released on Tuesday. Eight of the nine justices disclosed their 2024 outside income and gifts, as required for certain senior government officials. Justice Samuel Alito was granted a 90-day extension, according to the court. The filings showed the outside income, gifts and investment transactions for the justices last year. The filings are closely watched as the justices in recent years have come under scrutiny over ethics questions following revelations that some of them failed to report luxury trips, including on private jets, and real estate transactions. As in recent years, the disclosures showed the lucrative nature of book publishing for members of the nation's highest judicial body. Jackson said she received a $2,068,750 book advance last year from Penguin Random House for her memoir "Lovely One." That comes after a previously reported 2023 advance of $893,750 for the book chronicling her ascent as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She also reported being reimbursed by her publisher last year for more than a dozen book events across the country beginning in August when her memoir hit bookshelves. Justice Neil Gorsuch reported book royalty income of more than $250,000, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor reported nearly $74,000 in royalties, as well as a $60,000 advance for a new children's book, set for release in September. Some of the justices reported income from law school teaching roles. Gorsuch reported an income of $30,379 from George Mason University for teaching a roughly two-week course in July 2024 in Porto, Portugal. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett each received $31,815 from the University of Notre Dame Law School, with Kavanaugh having a teaching stint in October 2024 and Barrett having one in August 2024, according to their filings. Chief Justice John Roberts co-taught a two-week course in Galway, Ireland in July 2024 for New England Law, a private Boston-based law school, but his compensation was not reported in his 2024 disclosure because he was paid in February 2025. Just like last year, Alito was granted a 90-day extension. His disclosure last year reported receiving concert tickets in 2023 worth $900 from Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a German aristocrat. The justices in 2023 adopted their first code of conduct governing their ethical behavior following revelations of undisclosed luxury trips and hobnobbing with wealthy benefactors. Critics and some congressional Democrats have said the ethics code does not go far enough to promote transparency, continuing to leave decisions to recuse from cases to the justices themselves and providing no mechanism of enforcement.
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Supreme Court Orders Maine House to Restore Voting Power to Censured Lawmaker, for Now
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Maine legislators to temporarily restore the voting power of a state lawmaker after she had been censured for a social media post that criticized transgender athletes' participation in girls' sports. The order was unsigned and did not provide the court's reasoning, as is typical in such emergency applications. No vote count was listed, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted she would have denied the application, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissent. The court order provided no further explanation on next steps, but the legislator, State Representative Laurel Libby, had asked in her application to immediately be allowed to participate in the current legislative session, which ends in June. Lawmakers had censured Ms. Libby, a Republican from Auburn, in February after she wrote a Facebook post criticizing the participation of a transgender athlete who had won a high school pole-vaulting competition. Ms. Libby included the name and photos of the student in the post, which went viral. The formal reprimand of Ms. Libby prevented her from voting or speaking on the House floor until she apologized for the post. Lawmakers, in a party-line vote, had also found her in violation of the state's Legislative Code of Ethics, which includes a provision asserting that a legislator is 'entrusted with the security, safety, health, prosperity, respect and general well-being of those the legislator serves and with whom the legislator serves.' Ms. Libby filed a lawsuit on March 11 in federal court in Maine, suing the House speaker, Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat. She claimed that her punishment violated the Constitution by stripping 'a duly elected Republican member' of the 'right to speak and vote on the House floor.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Justice Sotomayor Says Lawyers Must ‘Stand Up' and ‘Fight This Fight'
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, speaking to hundreds of lawyers at an American Bar Association event on Thursday night, urged the legal profession to toughen up. 'If you're not used to fighting, and losing battles, then don't become a lawyer,' she said. 'Our job is to stand up for people who can't do it themselves.' 'Right now,' she added, 'we can't lose the battles we are facing.' Justice Sotomayor spoke in general terms, but her remarks came against the backdrop of immense stress on lawyers and the legal system from the Trump administration. That tension included a string of executive orders from President Trump retaliating against prominent law firms, stripping their lawyers of security clearances, barring them from entering federal buildings and discouraging federal officials from interacting with the firms. She was once a summer associate at one of those firms, Paul Weiss, which led the way in striking a deal with the administration, prompting criticism that it had sacrificed its principles to protect its bottom line. Many other leading firms followed suit. Justice Sotomayor indicated that she had a different conception of what lawyers ought to do. 'We need trained and passionate and committed lawyers to fight this fight,' she said. 'For me, being here with you is an act of solidarity.' Justice Sotomayor's remarks came in a charged setting, at an awards ceremony at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Trump has been critical of the Smithsonian generally for what he called its adoption of 'a divisive, race-centered ideology' and its promotion of 'narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
