U.S. Supreme Court justices reported receiving gifts including a stay in a Bali hotel and tickets to a Beyoncé concert, as well as nearly $1.6 million in book advances and royalties in annual financial disclosure forms for 2023 released on Friday.
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who has come under criticism for failing to disclose gifts from businessman and Republican donor Harlan Crow, revised his 2019 form to acknowledge he accepted “food and lodging” at a Bali hotel and at a California club.
Liberal Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson said she received four concert tickets from music superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter valued at $3,711.84.
And conservative Justice Samuel Alito, under fire for reports that flags associated with Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, got a 90-day extension on his filing.
The filings showed the justices’ outside income, gifts and investment transactions last year. They are closely watched as the justices have faced increasing scrutiny over ethics following revelations that some of them failed to report luxury trips, including on private jets, and real estate transactions.
Thomas reported no trips in 2023 after disclosing trips to Dallas, Texas and New York’s Adirondack Mountains in 2022. He cited security concerns after a leak of the court’s 2022 decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion to justify the need to travel privately.
The disclosures showed the lucrative nature of book publishing for members of the nation’s highest judicial body. The advance for Jackson’s memoir “Lovely One, opens new tab,” set for release in September, was reported as $893,750.
In addition to the Beyoncé tickets, Jackson said she received artwork for her chambers worth $12,500.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh listed book “royalty income” from Javelin Group and Regnery Publishing for $340,000. News website Axios reported on Thursday that he is writing a memoir, expected to be published in 2025 or 2026. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch reported $250,000 in book royalties, as did liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor for nearly $87,000.
