Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett disclosed nearly $850,000 in 2025 book income tied to “Listening to the Law,” including a $425,000 advance from 2021. Her outside earnings underscore how easily book deals can dwarf the government salaries justices earne
When Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed her routine financial disclosure for 2025, the figure that stood out wasn’t her courtroom salary. It was her book money—nearly $850,000—tied to a best-selling memoir about the law.
Barrett reported the income as part of the annual reports due June 29, with all justices required to list assets and outside income from 2025. For Barrett, that meant detailing earnings from “Listening to the Law,” and how far beyond government pay the deal reached.
The numbers were stark. In 2025, Barrett disclosed nearly $850,000 from the best-selling book. She also reported receiving $425,000 as an advance for the same memoir in 2021. Her government salary as an associate justice was $303. 600 in 2025. and a straight comparison would put the book deal’s take at levels far above what she earned from the court.
Barrett’s disclosure places her in a broader club of justices whose outside author income has pushed past their government pay. Four other justices are described as having also reached millionaire status through book deals: Justices Sonia Sotomayor. Ketanji Brown Jackson. Neil Gorsuch. and Clarence Thomas.
She also reported an outside teaching job. Barrett made just over $33,000 in 2025 as an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Law, her alma mater.
June 29 filing deadline, and a delay for one
All of the justices were due to file their annual financial disclosure reports on June 29, listing assets and outside income from 2025. Justice Samuel Alito received a 90-day extension to file his annual report, a step he takes in most years.
Barrett’s filing arrived as Court-watchers continued to track how justices balance public duties with outside writing and teaching—especially in a year when book promotion travel also became part of the financial disclosures.
Other disclosures show royalties, travel, and the cost of visibility
In the same set of reports, Jackson reported the highest outside income of any justice last year: $1.2 million in book royalties for her 2024 book, “Lovely One.” A young adult adaptation of the book came out in January.
Barrett and Jackson each reported the most extensive travel of court justices promoting their books in 2025. Barrett listed reimbursements for nine events on her book tour, while Jackson reported 15.
Gorsuch made $300,000 in royalties from two companies. His credits include multiple books, and he is coauthor of a children’s book published in May, “Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence.”
Sotomayor, whose writing includes children’s books, reported $88,000 in royalties.
Not all of the future income is already visible. Alito has a book coming out in October titled “So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country.” He described it as a collection of his speeches, and income from that book would not be disclosed until 2027.
Teaching work continues to supplement incomes
Book deals are only part of the financial picture. Most of the justices reported income from side jobs teaching at law schools.
Brett Kavanaugh also taught at Notre Dame, reporting $33,000. Gorsuch taught at George Mason University in Virginia, reporting $30,000. Chief Justice John Roberts taught at New England Law in Boston and reported $25,000. Clarence Thomas taught at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and reported $18,000.
Sotomayor’s disclosure also drew notice from sharp-eyed observers. She listed $4,333 in gifted concert tickets from Rimas Entertainment, the Puerto Rican record label that represents rapper Bad Bunny. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and Puerto Rican person to serve on the Supreme Court.
A comparison built around pay: salaries, and what the disclosures omit
The financial reports also point to how much higher outside income can run compared with official compensation. In 2025, Supreme Court government salaries were listed as $317,500 for the chief justice and $303,600 for the eight associate justices.
The disclosures do not include the value of justices’ primary homes or pensions. Forbes estimates their net worths as of 2025, including figures such as John Roberts at $25 million and Samuel Alito at $10 million. Those estimates place Neil Gorsuch at $8 million; Sonia Sotomayor at $5 million; Amy Coney Barrett at $2 million; Brett Kavanaugh at $2 million; Elena Kagan between $1 million and $2 million; Clarence Thomas between $1 million and $2 million; and Ketanji Brown Jackson between $1 million and $2 million.
What changes the story isn’t just the money—it’s the timing and visibility. Barrett’s nearly $850. 000 from “Listening to the Law” in 2025 comes with a $425. 000 advance disclosed for 2021. turning a publishing timeline into a multi-year financial lift that sits alongside salary and teaching income. In the same disclosures. the highest book royalty figure belongs to Jackson at $1.2 million. while other justices report royalties tied to their own publishing tracks.
For readers watching the Court through financial transparency, the lesson is embedded in the filings themselves: book deals, teaching pay, and promotional travel can reshape what “outside income” means, and they can do it faster than the public tends to expect.
Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court financial disclosure book royalties Listening to the Law adjunct professor Sonia Sotomayor Ketanji Brown Jackson Neil Gorsuch Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito extension Supreme Court salaries Notre Dame Law