For colleges and libraries seeking a boldfaced name for a guest lecturer, few come bigger than Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court justice who rose from poverty in the Bronx to the nation's highest court.
She has benefited, too — from schools’ purchases of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of the books she has written over the years.
Supreme Court staffers have been deeply involved in organizing speaking engagements intended to sell books. That is conduct prohibited for members of Congress and the executive branch, who are barred under ethics rules from using government resources, including staff, for personal financial gain. Lower federal court judges are also instructed to not “lend the prestige of the judicial office to advance” their “private interests.
In 2019, as Sotomayor traveled the country to promote her new children’s book, “Just Ask!,” library and community college officials in Portland, Oregon, jumped at the chance to host an event. At Clemson University in South Carolina, school officials offered to buy 60 signed copies before a 2017 appearance; Sotomayor’s staff noted that most schools order around 400. Michigan State University asked Sotomayor to come to campus and in 2018 spent more than $100,000 on copies of her memoir, “My Beloved World,” to distribute to incoming first-year students.
Sotomayor’s publisher, Penguin Random House, also has played a role in organizing her talks, in some cases pressing public institutions to commit to buying a specific number of copies or requesting that attendees purchase books to obtain tickets, emails show. The publisher has had several matters before the court in which Sotomayor did not recuse herself.
That summer, after an aide to Sotomayor first contacted Portland Community College to gauge its interest in hosting a book talk, officials at the Oregon school called it an “exciting possibility.” Officials committed to spending $1,000 to host the event. Co-host Multnomah County Library pledged an additional $1,500.
When the free tickets were quickly snapped up, she asked library officials to publicize that those who could not get tickets could still meet the justice if they purchased a book. Still, when she found out event organizers had only purchased 250 copies of Sotomayor’s book, she sent an email telling library officials that the quantity was “definitely not enough.”
In 2018, Michigan State spent $110,000 for 11,000 copies of “My Beloved World,” to distribute to incoming first-year students after selecting it for an annual reading program with the East Lansing Public Library.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Letters to the Editor — Musings on the Supreme Court’s decisionsRe: “Arlington gun case set to be heard next year — 2nd Amendment suit centers on rights of domestic abusers to be able to have weapons,” July 1 news story....
Read more »
Stymied by the Supreme Court, Biden wants voters to have the final say on his agendaAfter major blows to his agenda by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is intent on making sure voters will have the final say.
Read more »
16 political cartoons that judge the Supreme CourtCartoonists from across the country react to consequential Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action, student debt and whether business are compelled to serve everyone.
Read more »
Supreme Court rules against Biden's student loan forgiveness program- What's Your Point?The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled against President Biden's authority to forgive roughly $400 billion in student loans without congressional approval
Read more »
Stymied by the Supreme Court, Biden wants voters to have the final say on his agendaAfter major blows to his agenda by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is intent on making sure voters will have the final say.
Read more »