More than 600 people have lent their signatures to an open letter condemning Penguin Random House for giving a book deal to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Guardian reports.
The letter comes several months after it was reported that the conservative justice—who in 2006 signed an open letter opposing abortion rights—was paid $425,000 as part of the book deal, reportedly worth $2 million in total.
“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,” the letter states. “As such, we are calling on Penguin Random House to recognize 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.”
The letter cites Barrett’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“The ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health that overturned Roe hinged on exactly what Coney Barrett’s book is reportedly about—the judiciary’s role and ‘how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule,’” the letter states. “Yet, it seems this is exactly what Coney Barrett has done, 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 $2 million to do it.”
The first signature on the letter is from Publishers Brunch, an Instagram account that posts publishing-related memes. Many of the other signatories identify themselves as editors, agents, authors, and employees of various publishing houses.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
