Four U.S. Supreme Court justices earned a combined $2.4 million from book publishing in 2025, according to annual financial disclosures released by the federal judiciary.
The figures highlight how the publishing world has become a significant secondary income stream for members of the nation’s highest court.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson led the disclosures, reporting more than $1.1 million last year from her memoir “Lovely One,” which was published in 2024.
That figure adds to the $2 million she reported earning from the book in 2024 and just under $900,000 in 2023, bringing her total compensation for the memoir to more than $4 million.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who published her first book “Listening to the Law” last autumn, reported $850,000 in publication and copyright royalties from Javelin Group LLC.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the author of a memoir and several children’s titles, reported approximately $88,000 in income from published books during the same period.
Sotomayor also disclosed a gift of concert tickets worth $4,300 from Rimas Entertainment, a Puerto Rican record label that represents rapper Bad Bunny, as well as reimbursement to attend a musical adaptation of her children’s book “Just Ask!”
Justice Samuel Alito requested a 90-day extension to file his disclosures, which the court noted is consistent with his usual practice.
By comparison, Chief Justice John Roberts receives an annual salary of $320,700, illustrating the considerable gap between judicial pay and publishing earnings.
Gabe Roth, executive director of the non-partisan watchdog group Fix the Court, said the growing sums are not without ethical complications for the court’s reputation.
“On the one hand, Supreme Court justices earn only a fraction of what they could command in the private sector, making the appeal of a seven-figure advance difficult to ignore,” Roth said in a statement.
“On the other, these sums put pressure on the justices to promote their books, which all too often means speaking before audiences that align with their ideological leanings,” he added.
The disclosures arrive at a time when public scrutiny of Supreme Court ethics practices has intensified, with watchdog groups calling for stricter reporting and gift rules.