Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative member of the Supreme Court, will publish a book next year, joining several of his colleagues who have inked deals in recent months to publish.
Alito, who was named to the court by President George W. Bush and is one of its most senior members, will publish the book under the Basic Liberty imprint, part of Basic Books, the publisher said. Alito’s focus was not immediately clear and there is not yet a title.
Throughout his tenure, Alito has been a stalwart conservative – and recently a reliable vote for President Donald Trump in cases involving his second administration. It was Alito who authored the court’s landmark decision in 2022 overturning Roe v. Wade.
He becomes the latest of several justices to sign book deals. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a member of the court’s liberal wing, continues to hold public events to discuss a memoir she wrote last year. And Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who Trump named to the bench during his first term, is publishing a book next month and is preparing to attend events to promote it this fall.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, another Trump nominee, is planning to publish a book in coming months as well. And Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first nominee to the high court, last year wrote a book lamenting what he described as an explosion of federal laws and regulations.
Books can be lucrative for justices, who earn more than $300,000 a year but who are barred from receiving more than about $30,000 in outside income annually. Book revenue is exempt from that cap, creating an incentive for the nine to put pen to paper beyond their opinions.
Three Supreme Court justices reported hefty earnings from books in their annual financial disclosure statements in June. Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the high court, reported receiving just over $2 million from Penguin Random House. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, another member of the court’s liberal wing, and Gorsuch each reported six-figure totals for 2024 for books they’ve authored.
While those financial reports were made public in June for most of the justices, Alito sought an extension to file his – as he has consistently done in past years as well.
Alito’s book could be a significant draw. A former federal prosecutor and appeals court judge, Alito is widely embraced on the right and often sharply criticized on the left.
Given his seniority and the Republican control of the Senate, there was speculation he might retire when the Supreme Court’s most recent term ended in June – giving Trump a chance to name another conservative – but such an announcement did not come.
