Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was paid $2 million for a book advance last year for her 2024 memoir, Lovely One, according to financial disclosure forms released Tuesday.
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts released the financial disclosure forms of eight of the nine current Supreme Court justices. Justice Samuel Alito received a requested 90-day extension to file his form.
Jackson’s disclosure included a $2,068,750 book advance from Penguin Random House for her memoir, a year after her 2023 disclosure form showed a $893,750 advance for the same memoir. She also disclosed more than a dozen reimbursements for transportation, lodging, and meals as part of her book tour, largely in September 2024.
The nearly $3 million Jackson earned from the book deal is so far more than the reported $2 million book deal signed by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, of which Barrett received a $425,000 advance in 2021. Barrett’s book, Listening to the Law, is scheduled to be released in September.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor received a combined $133,944.14 in royalties and a book advance from Penguin Random House, according to her filing, while Justice Neil Gorsuch received $250,000 in book royalties from HarperCollins.
The justices’ book deals recently caused the high court to decline to hear Baker v. Coates, a copyright case involving author Ta-Nehisi Coates and Penguin Random House, after five justices recused themselves. The recusals prevented the Supreme Court from having the quorum necessary to hear the case.
Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh both disclosed $31,815 each for teaching at Notre Dame Law School, while Gorsuch disclosed $30,379.91 for teaching at George Mason University.
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The justices’ financial disclosures have been under increased scrutiny after reports from left-leaning outlet ProPublica in 2023 accused Justice Clarence Thomas of failing to disclose trips and gifts from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. Thomas has defended himself by saying he was advised he did not need to disclose those trips, but he has since amended his disclosures to include those trips.
Thomas’s disclosure, released Tuesday, did not include any gifts or reimbursements.