- Author, Ana Faguy
- Role, BBC News
- Reporting from Washington
Details about how the United States Supreme Court justices made money in the past year were made public Friday through the court’s financial disclosures.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was gifted Beyoncé tickets from the singer and Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed two trips gifted from major GOP donor Harlan Crow — a news report about the gifted trips landed the justice in hot water earlier this year.
Four of the justices disclosed financials related to book deals.
The reports, which cover the 2023 year, were made public for eight of the nine justices with Justice Samuel Alito requesting a 90-day extension for his report.
Supreme Court justices are required to file disclosures of gifts annually.
Justice Brown Jackson received four tickets from Beyoncé valued at more than $3,700 (more than £2,900) to the singer’s concert.
Justice Thomas, meanwhile, included in this year’s report a disclosure that he took two trips with Mr Crow in 2019 — one to Bali and one to California. The trips were added as an amendment to a previous disclosure.
The California trip was to a “private club” according to the report, possibly alluding to Bohemian Grove, a California club for rich, powerful men. Justice Thomas reportedly has visited the club in the past.
Food and lodging for both trips were gifted to Justice Thomas, according to the disclosure, but he did not include the exact monetary value of the trips.
ProPublica reported last year that the 2019 trip to Bali may have cost as much as $500,000 (£403,000).
As part of its report, the non-profit news website found Justice Thomas accepted vacations from Mr Crow, a real estate mogul, nearly every year for two decades.
At the time the news story was released, Justice Thomas pushed back saying “this sort of personal hospitality” did not need to be part of the annual disclosure.
Scrutiny of the omission, led to similar criticism of other justices last year.
On Friday, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Brown Jackson listed book royalties as part of their financial disclosures.
Justice Brown Jackson made more than $893,000 (more than £702,000) for a book advance for a yet-to-be released memoir.
Justice Kavanaugh disclosed receiving $340,000 (£267,000) for a forthcoming “legal memoir”.
