Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has reportedly received a $2 million advance for her upcoming book, a record publishing payday for a judge on the highest court.
Three publishing industry sources told Politico that Barrett’s book will focus on judges not allowing their personal feelings to influence their rulings — something that was a major topic of conversation during Barrett’s confirmation hearings last year. Barrett was the last of three Supreme Court picks made by former President Donald Trump.
Freelance journalist Yashar Ali tweeted that $2 million is believed to be the most lucrative book advance received by a sitting Supreme Court justice, as “Clarence Thomas got $1.5 million in 2003 and Sonia Sotomayor got $1.175 million in 2011.”
Barrett, who had a track record as a staunchly conservative judge during her time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate a mere three weeks before the 2020 election in a contentious nomination, though notably less so than the confirmation hearings of the justice confirmed before her, Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump and then-Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden vehemently argued over how to fill the vacancy left on the court after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg just six weeks before the 2020 election.
Barrett’s confirmation to the bench moved the Supreme Court’s ideological balance solidly in favor of the Republicans, and Democrats expressed apprehension that her addition to the court could signal the end for major Democratic policy priorities such as the Affordable Care Act and almost half-a-century-long abortion protections established under Roe v. Wade. But months after she’s taken the bench, Barrett has yet to definitively tilt the court on any controversial case.
Source: Newmax
