A report on Justice Sonia Sotomayor claimed that she earned $3.7 million in book sales since joining the Supreme Court, partially because her staff “prodded” libraries and colleges that hosted her in the past to buy her works.
The Associated Press released a report based on over 100 open records requests to public institutions where Sotomayor appeared in the past as a lecturer or guest speaker. The review shows that Sotomayor’s taxpayer-funded court staff worked to promote sales for her memoir and/or her children’s book, Just Ask, on multiple occasions.
One instance the AP flagged happened in 2019 when library and community college officials in Portland, Oregon wanted Sotomayor to hold an event with them while she was holding a book tour for Just Ask. As costs mounted for the event set-up, Sotomayor aide Anh Le emailed the Multnomah County Library and told them the event organizers didn’t buy enough copies of the book, which attendees had to have in their possession in order to meet with Sotomayor after her speech.
“For an event with 1,000 people and they have to have a copy of Just Ask to get into the line, 250 books is definitely not enough,” Le wrote. “Families purchase multiples and people will be upset if they are unable to get in line because the book required is sold out.”