Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has revealed the very generous gift she received from Beyoncé – but she’s far from the Supreme Court member who has received the most presents on the job.
The pop superstar sent Biden appointee Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court, four tickets to her Renaissance world tour, worth a total of $3,711.84, according to a report by the watchdog Fix The Court.
The nine current SCOTUS justices have received at least 344 gifts worth $3 million in gifts between January 2004 and December 2023, per the analysis, which used official disclosure reports.
George H.W. Bush appointee Justice Clarence Thomas topped the list of the largest portion of gifts received. Since getting on the bench in 1991, Thomas received 193 gifts worth a total of $4,042,286.
And, according to Fix the Court, he has only openly disclosed 8.5 percent of the total gifts he has received. The watchdog cited news reports that claim Thomas has received an additional $1.7 million in gifts.
The late Sandra Day O’Connor, appointed by Ronald Reagan, came in second place, with 73 gifts worth $35,625 from 1981 to 2006.
Reagan appointee Antonin Scalia received the third highest amount of gifts – 67 with a total value of $210,164.
Bill Clinton appointee Ruth Bader Ginsburg not far behind in the amount of gifts received, with 61 gifts worth $59,814.
Meanwhile it was David Souter, who served from 1990 until his retirement in 2009, and Donald Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh who have received the fewest gifts – just one worth $349 and $100 respectively, per the report.
According to Fix the Court, only two justices reported 100 percent of the gifts they received – Souter and John Paul Stevens, who left the court in 2010.
Moreover, only two justices reported receiving gifts last year. Thomas said he was given two photo albums worth $2,000 by Terrence Giroux and his wife. Giroux is the executive director emeritus of the Horatio Alger Association.
Jackson received artwork for her Supreme Court office worth $12,500. And then there were the Beyoncé tickets, worth more than $900 a pop.
Beyoncé performed two concerts in the Washington area in August 2023, though Jackson’s disclosure does not say when or where the tickets were for.
‘Justice Jackson is Crazy in Love with Beyoncé’s music,’ Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said, invoking a Beyoncé song. ‘Who isn’t?’
Last year ProPublica revealed that Thomas has accepted the ‘hospitality’ of real estate billionaire Harlan Crow for 20 years, enjoying luxurious vacations and transport that he would not be able to afford on his $285,000 per year salary.
This includes touring the Pacific waters of Indonesia on a 162-foot super-yacht equipped with multiple decks that comes with a crew and a private chef in 2019, according to an explosive new report by the ProPublica journalism nonprofit.
In their day jobs, the justices are being paid $298,500 this year, except for Chief Justice John Roberts, who earns $312,200.
Following ProPublica’s reporting, SCOTUS issued an ethics code in an effort to shore up collapsing public confidence after a series of revelations that donors were showering justices with undisclosed gifts and lucrative property deals.
The nine-page code does not place specific restrictions on gifts, travel or real estate deals.
Instead it says justices ‘should not allow family, social, political, financial, or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.’
And they should not take part in activities that ‘detract from the dignity of the justice’s office’ or ‘reflect adversely on the justice’s impartiality,’ such as speaking at political events.
Pressure has built on the justices to sign up to a code of conduct during the past year.
Unlike other federal courts, the Supreme Court did not have its own formal rules but justices insisted they followed those used by lower-court US judges.
ProPublica revealed that Republican billionaire Crow helped pay the tuition bill — as much as $150,000 for four years at private school — of a relative of Thomas, whom the justice treated as a son.
An earlier ProPublica report revealed that Thomas made use of luxury jets, a mega-yacht, and stunning retreats all owned by the same real estate magnate.
None of it had been disclosed.
‘Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years,’ said Thomas at the time.
‘As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them.’
Thomas said he had followed the advice of others in deciding what required disclosure and that Crow himself did not have business before the court.
He faced additional questions because of the political activities of his wife. Virginia Thomas was active with allies of Donald Trump in trying to overturn the 2020 election results.
Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Sonia Sotomayor have also been under scrutiny.
Alito was revealed to have taken an undisclosed 2008 flight for a luxury fishing trip provided by hedge fund founder Paul Singer; Gorsuch was caught up in a property deal with the chief executive of a major law firm; and aides of Sotomayor promoted sales of her books.