FFinancial disclosures from eight of the nine Supreme Court justices were made public on Friday, revealing information about a trip to Bali, free concert tickets to see Beyoncé and nearly $1.6 million in book deals.
The annual disclosures come as the court faces increasing pressure over its transparency and accountability measures, particularly regarding potential conflicts of interest and ties to wealthy donors. A series of revelations in recent years about some of the undisclosed judges and gifts have only intensified public scrutiny and raised questions about the impartiality of the judiciary.
Judges are required to publicly disclose financial information every year to avoid conflicts of interest. Justice Samuel Alito was granted a 90-day extension to present his report, which he also received in recent years.
Here’s the most interesting information from the judges’ financial disclosures.
A trip to Bali with billionaire Harlan Crow
Justice Clarence Thomas acknowledged for the first time that he accepted luxury trips from Republican billionaire Harlan Crow for undisclosed trips he took in 2019 to Bali and an all-male private club in Northern California.
The two trips were at the center of a ProPública Report last year, exposing Thomas’s undeclared luxury travels, triggering unprecedented scrutiny of the judges’ wealthy benefactors and their commitment to ethical rules. The story claimed that Thomas and his wife, Ginni, took lavish trips paid for by Crow, a Texas real estate mogul and Republican megadonor, almost annually for more than two decades without disclosing them.
According to the new disclosure forms, Crow and his wife provided food and a day of hotel accommodation during Thomas’ trip to Bali in July 2019, and later paid for Thomas’ four-day stay at a private club in Monte Rio, California. Thomas explained in the document that the Crows’ gifts were “inadvertently omitted at the time of filing.”
Beyoncé concert tickets are worth almost $4,000
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson revealed she accepted four free tickets worth $3,711.84 from pop superstar Beyoncé to one of her concerts last year. The disclosure form does not specify which show the tickets were for, but a Supreme Court spokesperson confirmed the gift to The Washington Post It is he said: “Justice Jackson is crazy in love with Beyoncé’s music. Who is not?
Jackson, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 2022, also accepted two works of art worth $12,500 to display in her chambers. She had the highest outside income of any judge last year.
Big advances for the next books
Three judges reported profiting from book deals last year, totaling nearly $1.6 million in advances and royalties.
Jackson reported the highest amount: a staggering $893,750 advance from Penguin Random House for her upcoming memoir, “Lovely One.” The book, which will be released in September, traces “his family’s rise from segregation to their confirmation to the highest court in the United States in the space of a generation,” according to the publisher’s website.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is supposedly working on a legal memoir, revealed he received $340,000 from conservative Regnery Publishing. Justice Neil Gorsuch reported $250,000 in royalties from publisher HarperCollins for his upcoming book, “Over Ruled,” which is set to be released in August. The book will examine the number of laws in the United States and the “human cost that so many laws can take on ordinary Americans,” according to the publisher’s website.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor also reported about $87,000 in book royalties and received about $1,900 for her voice acting on the PBS Kids animated show Alma’s Way.
Large payouts related to book deals have been somewhat controversial in the past. Supreme Court justices, like other government employees, are only allowed to receive less than about $30,000 in outside income, but book income does not count toward that limit, allowing judges to enter into lucrative contracts with publishers over their lives and the law. Only Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Elena Kagan have so far not signed book deals.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
