Sotomayor no longer the top earner but apparently received free Bad Bunny tickets; didn’t disclose one gift that was above reporting threshold

Read the disclosures here.

Supreme Court justices collectively earned more than $2.4 million last year for writing books, pushing their post-confirmation earnings past $13 million, with Justice Jackson now holding the title over Justice Sotomayor as most financially rewarded book-writer ($4.14 million vs. $4.06 million) and Justice Barrett receiving a second tranche of her multimillion-dollar advance.

Justice Gorsuch brought in a six-figure payday in 2025, making him the most financially rewarded book-writer on the right (though Barrett will likely top him once all of her royalties come in), and Justice Alito for the 15th year in a row requested an extension, so we won’t learn about any potential earnings for his forthcoming book until later this summer.

Last year, Justice Thomas earned $0 from his book, keeping his total earnings at $1,505,000; Sotomayor earned $88,100 for a total of $4,058,132; Gorsuch earned $300,361 for a total of $1,717,382; Justice Kavanaugh earned $0, keeping his total at $340,000; Barrett earned $849,072 for a total of $1,274,072; and Jackson earned $1,181,250 for a total of $4,143,750. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kagan haven’t written any books while on the Court. (Retired Justice Kennedy earned $151,620 in 2025 for his autobiography and $247,245 overall, though his and Justice Breyer’s earnings are not included in the above tallies.)

“We have to think more critically in the coming years about the ethics of the book-related compensation,” Fix the Court’s Gabe Roth said. “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. 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 views — not what we want to see from a supposedly apolitical branch.”

Roth added: “And if you thought the Cook ruling meant the justices are concerned about their portfolios, remember that any one of them could write a book and become a millionaire several times over.”

Turning to gifts, Sotomayor and friends likely received free tickets to a Bad Bunny concert last August valued at $4,333. She writes in her disclosure appendix, “Rimas Entertainment is a record company, which provided tickets for a concert for me and guests while I was on a private trip to Puerto Rico in August 2025.” Rimas reps Bad Bunny, who performed in P.R. 15 times that month. We’ve asked SCOTUS to confirm.

Besides the tickets and Sotomayor’s trip to Kansas City to watch a production of her book-turned-play, the only other gift listed in the disclosures was this painting valued at $2,500 given to Jackson.

Four justices also supplemented their income through teaching: Thomas taught at Catholic University’s law school; Gorsuch taught a George Mason class in Prague; and Kavanaugh and Barrett taught at Notre Dame. As expected, none exceeded last year’s statutory teaching income limit of $33,855.

In terms of travel, Roberts’ trips to Buffalo and Charlotte were not reported, the former likely due to his family ties to the area (personal trip) and the latter since trips paid for by the judiciary aren’t reportable. It’s unknown who paid for Thomas’ March visit to Jefferson City, Mo., for the dedication of a conference room. It was a bit strange that Sotomayor’s book talks in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis were not included while many other book talks were. Justice Barrett’s African safari also wasn’t reported because it was a personal trip.

Several justices received gifts and awards last year that were not included in their disclosures. Based on outreach to the donors, Fix the Court was able to determine the cost of about half of these objects, with the omission of those valued under $480 being in line with the disclosure law.

Justice Sotomayor received “memorabilia” from Texas A&M-San Antonio in January ($90, per the school); the Brandeis Award medal from the University of Louisville in February ($822, per this receipt that Louisville Public Media’s Joe Sonka obtained via FOIA and sent to FTC); the Powell Distinguished Leadership Award plaque with medallion from CUNY in April ($344, per CUNY); the World Peace & Liberty Award statuette from the World Law Congress in May (no response); and the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section’s Lifetime Liberty Achievement Award glass trophy from the ABA in May ($359, per the ABA).

In February, Justice Kagan received the Woodrow Wilson Award certificate from Princeton University, which told us the paper cost $17, but we’ve yet to receive a response about the framing cost. In August, Justice Gorsuch received a William O. Douglas Award wooden bowl from Yakima Valley Museum ($450, per the artist, John Barany).

Justice Jackson received an All Rise Award glass statuette from the Women’s General Counsel Network in March (no response); the Butterfly Award trophy from Leading Women Defined in April (no response); the Truman Foundation’s Good Neighbor Award framed certificate in May (no response); a sweetgrass necklace designed by artists Corey and Karen Alston from the International African American Museum in September (no response); the Praeses Elit Award medal from the Trinity College (Dublin) Law Society in September (no response); a Harvard Law School Association Award statuette from HLS in September (no response); the Gould Book Award plaque from the Touro Law Center in November (no response) and the Spirit of America Award medal from National Council for the Social Studies in December ($193 per NCSS).

With Alito’s disclosure delayed, only Roberts reported owning individual stocks. He kept his shares in Lam Research and Thermo Fisher Scientific last year.