Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received more than $8,300 in gifts during her first term on the Supreme Court, she reported in her financial disclosure forms.
The forms, released Wednesday, show no other justice — at least, as of yet — disclosed gifts received for the 2022 financial disclosure period.
Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. were given extensions on filing their financial disclosures at a time when Justice Thomas has come under scrutiny for a friendship with GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow.
Justice Jackson noted she was gifted more than $6,500 in designer clothes from her Vogue Magazine photo shoot for the September 2022 issue, in which she was photographed near the Lincoln Memorial.
She also disclosed she was sent a $1,200 floral arrangement from Oprah Winfrey. There was also a painting worth nearly $600 listed under her gift disclosures.
Court watchers are split on whether the gifts are unusual for a first-term justice.
Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court, said Justice Sonia Sotomayor received artwork and a gift certificate for a spa, among other presents during her first term.
The total was around $4,400 — a few thousand dollars lower than what Justice Jackson received.
Adam Feldman, a Supreme Court scholar and creator of the EmpiricalSCOTUS blog, said these are typical gifts, though justices don’t usually disclose floral arrangements.
“Since KBJ is in her first term she may be a bit more cautious than the other justices,” he said.
But Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, noted that when Justice Amy Coney Barrett took the bench in 2020, she was not gifted designer clothing from a magazine spread. Instead, the magazine wrote about Justice Barrett in an article titled: “Does Amy Coney Barrett Believe Life Begins at Fertilization?”
Mr. Blackman said the photo of the justice that accompanied the article was not the most flattering.
“Jackson’s gifts are a bit unusual, as she has been given the royal treatment,” Mr. Blackman told The Washington Times.
Justice Jackson is the first Black female to serve on the high court. She was sworn in last July after Justice Stephen G. Breyer retired.
Justice Sotomayor and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch were the only justices to disclose book royalties on their forms, though Justice Sotomayor was paid nearly $150,000 from her books deals while Justice Gorsuch only raked in a couple hundred bucks.
“Sotomayor’s three line items for royalties this year are for two kids books that are quite popular, and for which she didn’t receive large advances, so it appears the deal was more heavily weighted toward sales vs. royalties, and they’re for her autobiography, which for some reason is still selling pretty well,” Mr. Roth said.
Justice Thomas has come under intense scrutiny over gifts. ProPublica reported that Mr. Crow paid private school tuition at Hidden Lake Academy and Randolph-Macon Academy for Justice Thomas’ great-nephew, whom the justice took in to raise at age 6.
The tuition total could have cost more than $150,000, according to ProPublica. Justice Thomas did not disclose the payments in his financial disclosure forms, and the news outlet suggested that runs afoul of ethical standards required of a federal judge.
ProPublica also reported in April that Justice Thomas did not disclose that he took multiple luxury vacations with Mr. Crow throughout their friendship, or that Mr. Crow purchased the home of Justice Thomas’ mother, even though she continued to reside there.
Justice Thomas and Mr. Crow have defended their friendship and said they don’t discuss business before the Supreme Court.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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