Sotomayor gets nearly $1.2 million for memoir

[May 28, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor says she received nearly $1.2 million to write a memoir of her rise from a South Bronx housing project to the nation's highest court.

Sotomayor reported the payment for the as-yet untitled book from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in an annual report of personal finances, released Friday for the justice and her eight colleagues. Knopf revealed last July that Sotomayor had agreed to write the memoir, but the size of the advance had not been public.

The book will come out simultaneously in English and in Spanish, but no release date has been set. Sotomayor is the court's first Hispanic justice. Her parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York after World War II.

Justice Clarence Thomas also received more than $1 million in advance of the publication of his book, "My Grandfather's Son," in 2007.

Thomas reported that his wife, Virginia, received salary and benefits from two conservative advocacy groups she created, Liberty Central and Liberty Consulting. The amounts were not disclosed; they are not required.

Two justices reported receiving royalties for books they published in recent years. Justice Stephen Breyer traveled the country to promote his new book "Making Our Democracy Work." He received nearly $60,000 in royalties.

Justice Antonin Scalia took in $38,000 for "Making Your Case," the book about legal advocacy that he co-wrote with Bryan Garner.

Breyer also reported selling his shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., valued at $15,000 to $50,000. The stock sale allowed Breyer to take part in the court's consideration of Wal-Mart's effort to end a massive sex discrimination lawsuit. The court is expected to decide that case by the end of June.

[Associated Press]

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