Open letter to top publisher condemns $2m Amy Coney Barrett book deal

[cbabe]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/27/amy-coney-barrett-penguin-random-house-book-deal

Open letter to top publisher condemns $2m Amy Coney Barrett book deal

More than 250 literary figures rail against acquisition by Penguin Random House of book by conservative US supreme court justice

Martin Pengelly in New York
@MartinPengelly
Thu 27 Oct 2022 02.00 EDT

More than 250 figures from the US literary world have signed an open letter protesting the acquisition by Penguin Random House of a book by the conservative supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett.

The hardline Catholic conservative was Donald Trump’s third appointee, her nomination rushed through by Senate Republicans after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal lion, shortly before the 2020 election.

Barrett’s book deal, reportedly worth $2m, was revealed the following year.

The open letter focuses on Barrett’s most consequential moment on the court, her membership in the 6-3 majority which this June removed the right to abortion.

The signatories say “it is imperative that publishers uphold their dedication to freedom of speech with a duty of care”.

But, they say, “we recognize that harm is done to a democracy not only in the form of censorship, but also in the form of assault on inalienable human rights. As such, we are calling on Penguin Random House to recognise its own history and corporate responsibility commitments by reevaluating its decision to move forward with publishing supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett’s forthcoming book.”

…

In fact, Human Rights Watch, founded by Random House’s second publisher, Robert L Bernstein … notes that ‘the human rights on which a right to abortion access is predicated are set out in the [United Nations’] Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, a document to which Penguin Random House parent company Bertelsmann commits itself in … its code of conduct.”

Barrett’s book will reportedly consider “how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule.”

But Barrett is a member of People of Praise, a secretive Catholic group. The open letter accuses her of “inflicting her own religious and moral agenda upon all Americans while appropriating the rhetoric of even-handedness – and Penguin Random House has agreed to pay her a sum of $2m to do it.”

The signatories add: “Many of us work daily with books we find disagreeable to our personal politics. Rather, this is a case where a corporation has privately funded the destruction of human rights with obscene profits.

“Barrett is free to say as she wishes, but Penguin Random House must decide whether to fund her position at the expense of human rights in order to inflate its bottom line, or to truly stand behind the values it proudly espouses to hold. We … cannot stand idly by while our industry misuses free speech to destroy our rights.”

A spokesperson told Publishers Weekly it was hoped the letter would “encourage others in the industry to speak out”. Penguin Random House did not comment.

Barrett has publicly addressed the subject of politics and the court. Last September, she told an audience in Kentucky that justices should be “hyper-vigilant to make sure they’re not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too”.

She added: “My goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks.”

The event was held at a centre named for a prominent partisan figure: Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader who blocked Barack Obama’s last nomination then saw three Trump picks safely on to the court.

As Barrett spoke, McConnell listened intently.

[Delmette2.0]

1. So the Justices do hear the negative opinions.

Her public address in September 2022 proves she also know how to lie with a straight face.

[Midnight Writer]

2. God must, indeed, smile down on her with favor.

[Hortensis]

3. Well, we all know we need to start removing improper judges,

which is almost unheard of at any level. The worse they are and the more harm they do to the people and instituttions we need to operate at the highest levels of probity, the more they'll force the people to finally discard old ways that no longer work for new ones.