...
By Andrew Stanton
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received concert tickets from Beyoncé, according to her financial disclosure form.
Beyoncé provided Jackson with four concert tickets worth a total of $3,711.84, according to the form. The gift was among three she received in 2023 and was properly reported in her annual financial disclosure report.
The Context
Supreme Court justices have faced increasing scrutiny over gifts in recent years, with a new report released Thursday finding that the justices raked in millions of dollars of gifts throughout the past two decades.
Read More on News
What We Know
Newly released financial disclosure forms revealed new information about gifts received by the U.S. Supreme Court justices.
Jackson, the newest judge on the nation's highest court, disclosed only three gifts. In addition to the concert tickets, she received $12,500 worth of artwork for her chamber from Lonnie Holley and Dr. Kathi Earles-Ross and HU Scholars, according to the form.
...
The Supreme Court justices are allowed to accept certain gifts, but they are required by law to disclose them.
Other justices, such as Justice Clarence Thomas have faced backlash amid accusations they failed to disclose gifts. Thomas has denied any wrongdoing and said anything that was undisclosed was simply "inadvertently omitted."
Ahead of the report, the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Fix the Court compiled information about gifts received by various justices. It found that Thomas received the greatest value of gifts, at $4 million. Justice Samuel Alito placed second, receiving about $170,000 worth of gifts.
Chief Justice John Roberts has received about $49,000 worth of gifts.
Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor received gifts valuing about $15,000, Neil Gorsuch received about $2,450 in gifts and Elena Kagan received just over $1,000. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett have reported less than $1,000 in gifts throughout their time on the court.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court communications office for comment via email.
Views
The gift garnered some attention on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
"And the winner of financial disclosures is... Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson who reported that Beyonce Knowles-Carter gifted her four concert tickets valued at $3,711.84," posted Bloomberg law reporter Kimberly Robinson.
"I'm pretty sure that Beyonce isn't trying to influence KBJ's jurisprudence, and KBJ isn't letting free concert tix influence her work, but unless it's a preexisting friendship, a justice shouldn't accept gifts like this and the rules shouldn't allow it," wrote Eric Columbus, a congressional lawyer who also served as a Barack Obama administration official.
What's Next
Critics of the Supreme Court have called for more stringent reporting requirements, with some arguing justices should not be able to accept any gifts at all.
Update 6/7/2024 12:05 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 6/7/2024 12:42 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines