Details of how U.S. Supreme Court justices earned their money last year were made public Friday through the court’s financial disclosures.
Judge Ketanji Brown received a gift of Beyoncé tickets from the Jackson singer and revealed two trips Judge Clarence Thomas received from major GOP donor Harlan Crowe — news reports about the gift trips landed the justice in hot water earlier this year.
Four judges released financial details related to book deals.
Statements covering the year 2023 were released for eight of the nine justices, with Justice Samuel Alito requesting a 90-day extension to his statement.
The Supreme Court judges should issue prize money annually.
Justice Brown Jackson received four tickets worth $3,700 (over £2,900) to the singer’s concert from Beyoncé.
Justice Thomas, meanwhile, included in this year’s report a disclosure that he had taken two trips with Mr Crow in 2019 – one to Bali and one to California. Trips was added as a correction to a previous disclosure.
The California trip was reportedly to a “private club,” perhaps to mention Bohemian Grove, a California club for rich, powerful men. Justice Thomas is said to have visited the club in the past.
Judge Thomas was gifted food and lodging for both trips, according to the disclosure, but he did not include the exact monetary value of the trips.
A 2019 trip to Bali could cost as much as $500,000 (£403,000), ProPublica reported last year.
As part of its report, the not-for-profit news website found that Judge Thomas had accepted a holiday every year for nearly two decades from Mr Crowe, a real estate magnate.
At the time the news broke, Justice Thomas pushed back saying “this kind of personal hospitality” need not be part of the annual disclosure.
An investigation into the omission led to similar criticism of other judges last year.
On Friday, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanagh and Brown Jackson listed book royalties as part of their financial disclosures.
Justice Brown Jackson received $893,000 (over £702,000) for a book advance for his yet-to-be-published memoir.
Judge Kavanagh revealed he will receive $340,000 (£267,000) for an upcoming “legal memoir”.
