Sotomayor’s staff pushed library, colleges to buy her books: report

Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s staff pushed colleges and a library to purchase copies of her book when she traveled there for speaking engagements, according to an investigation from The Associated Press.

The AP’s investigation, based on more than 100 public records requests, detailed several ethical dilemmas related to the justices’ regular travel to universities.

It noted multiple occasions in which Sotomayor’s taxpayer-funded staff prodded school and library officials to purchase additional copies of the justice’s books.

Sotomayor’s financial disclosures detail book royalties and advances amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by her publisher, Penguin Random House, over the years.

“For an event with 1000 people and they have to have a copy of Just Ask to get into the line, 250 books is definitely not enough. Families purchase multiples and people will be upset if they are unable to get in line because the book required is sold out,” a Sotomayor aide purportedly wrote in an August 2019 email about the justice’s upcoming book talk in Portland, Ore.

The investigation revealed similar reported commentary from aides for Sotomayor’s appearances at schools such as Clemson University and University of California, Davis.

At Michigan State University, the school reportedly spent more than $100,000 to distribute one of Sotomayor’s books to incoming first-year students. Court workers took the books to her chambers so Sotomayor could sign them before sending them to the school, according to the AP.

In a statement to the AP, the Supreme Court said chambers staff “assist the Justices in complying with judicial ethics guidance” for visits, including surrounding their books.

“Chambers staff also play an important, official role in protecting the Justices, who are high-profile public figures,” the court said. “Schools have occasionally invited Justice Sotomayor to take part in a program in which they select a book for an entire school or a freshman class, and the Justice gives a book talk. When she is invited to participate in a book program, Chambers staff recommends the number of books based on the size of the audience so as not to disappoint attendees who may anticipate books being available at an event, and they will put colleges or universities in touch with the Justice’s publisher when asked to do so.”

The Hill has reached out to the court for further comment.