Supreme Court Disclosures Reveal Book Payouts, Rare Gifts and Donor-Funded Travel for the Justices

The annual financial disclosure reports for the U.S. Supreme Court were released Tuesday, offering a rare window into the justices' outside income, gifts and travel at a moment when the court's ethics practices remain under intense public scrutiny. The dominant theme was familiar: for several justices, book deals — not gifts — are the biggest driver of income beyond their government salaries.

Only two justices reported receiving gifts. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disclosed a painting for her chambers valued at $2,500. Justice Sonia Sotomayor reported a trip to Kansas City to attend the opening of a musical based on her children's book, "Just Ask," as well as free tickets worth $4,333 during a private trip to Puerto Rico, provided by the record label that represents the reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny. Chief Justice John Roberts was the only sitting member of the court to report no gifts or travel reimbursements at all.

Travel reimbursements were more widely reported. Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed that his travel, food and lodging expenses were covered by the Hoover Institution, where he spoke at a celebration honoring the late conservative economist Thomas Sowell. Justices Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Jackson all reported reimbursements for international travel tied to speeches, book events or teaching engagements abroad.

The disclosures land against a backdrop of years of controversy over the justices' financial entanglements. Investigative reporting — most prominently by ProPublica — has documented previously undisclosed luxury travel and gifts accepted by Justice Thomas from wealthy benefactors, revelations that fueled a national debate over whether the nation's highest court should be bound by a formal, enforceable code of conduct. The court adopted its own ethics code in 2023, but critics note it lacks any meaningful enforcement mechanism.

For the justices, the book business has become a lucrative and legally sanctioned source of outside earnings, with advances and royalties running well into six figures for the court's best-known authors. The annual reports, required under federal law, remain one of the few mandatory windows the public has into the personal finances of officials who serve for life and whose decisions shape American law for generations. Watchdog groups seized on the filings once again to renew their push for stronger, independently enforced ethics rules at the court.

The disclosures also underscored how modestly the justices are compensated relative to their stature and workload: their federal salaries, while comfortable, are dwarfed by what senior partners earn at the elite law firms that argue before them, and book advances have become one of the few legal avenues for the justices to substantially supplement their government pay. Sotomayor, Gorsuch and Barrett are among the members who have published best-selling titles in recent years. Transparency advocates say the reports, for all their detail, still leave gaps — they capture reimbursed travel and formal gifts but can miss the kind of undisclosed hospitality that earlier investigations brought to light. As the court prepares for another consequential term, the annual filings ensure its finances will remain a subject of public debate.