Beyoncé gave Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson four tickets to her concert last year, the justice disclosed in financial disclosure forms published Friday that also revealed that Jackson and other justices received six-figure payments in 2023 for book deals. Jackson, who reported an eye-popping $893,750 payment from a book publisher, was joined by Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor in reporting income from books that they have published or have coming out in the future. The book deals have at times been controversial.
Supreme Court justices and other government officials are capped on receiving more than about $30,000 in outside income, but book income doesn't count toward that cap. Jackson, a member of the court's liberal wing, was paid by Penguin Random House, the book publisher that is publishing her upcoming memoir. Kavanaugh, a conservative who recently disclosed he is writing a memoir, listed a $340,000 payment from the Javelin Group agency.
Gorsuch, who is also publishing a book this year, reported royalty income of $250,000. Book deals are typically paid in installments, so the full financial windfall justices receive from their books will not be known for several more years. Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2022 reported receiving a $425,000 advance on her book, a figure that drew some criticism.
In this most recent report, however, she didn't list any additional income from that deal. Sotomayor, who has written a series of children's books, reporte.
