U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch speaking at the LBJ Presidential Library on Sept. 19, 2019, Jay Godwin
From children’s books to multi-million-dollar memoirs, several Supreme Court justices are cashing in on their celebrity.
Justices are limited to accepting a maximum of $30,000 in outside income, but royalties and advances for books are exempt. And the payoff for “political celebrities” can be big, The Washington Post reports. Some justices have received million-dollar book advances.
Children’s books, which are easier to write, can net justices “big paydays” — tens of thousands of dollars, or more. They appear to be a particular favorite for several justices, although there tends to be more big money for non-children’s books.
Justice Neil Gorsuch has written an illustrated children’s storybook about America’s Founding Fathers, timed to coincide with the nation’s 250th birthday, according to the Post, titled “Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence.”
“I just wanted to share with children some stories about the courage and sacrifice of the heroes behind 1776, who gave us our Constitution and our liberties,” he told Fox News in November, pointing to “so many ordinary people who did extraordinary things.”
Justices have “name recognition, particularly among people who share their ideological values,” the Post notes, which “creates built-in audiences that publishers see as a safe bet.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor earned $870,000 from 2017 to 2024 for publishing three children’s books and one for young adults.
“In September,” according to the Post, “Sotomayor released her most recent children’s book, ‘Just Shine! How to Be a Better You’ — a tribute to her mother, with an audiobook version narrated by the Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan.”
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who retired in 2006, was the first justice to publish a children’s book, “Chico,” a picture book published in 2005 about her childhood pony.
But the bigger money is not in children’s books.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett reportedly received $2 million for “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution,” which came out in September.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a nearly $3 million advance for her autobiography, “Lovely One,” published two years after her confirmation to the Supreme Court. There is now a young adult version.
She also received a Grammy nomination for the audiobook version. Justice Jackson attended the awards ceremony, despite not having won, causing some controversy.
Part of her job, she said, during an appearance on the talk show “The View,” is “public outreach and education.”
“When the justices are on recess — which is what we are doing right now — we really have an opportunity to go out into the community in various different ways,” she said in February, responding to right-wing criticism of her decision to attend the ceremony.
“How much Gorsuch received in advance for his children’s book, or how much Jackson received for the young-adult version of her autobiography, is unknown,” the Post noted.
But it was Justice Clarence Thomas who “broke the mold” when he released his autobiography in 2007, Gabe Roth, executive director of the ethics watchdog group Fix the Court, told the Post. Justice Thomas, the Post noted, “received a $1.5 million advance, which at the time was the most for a sitting member of the court.”