More than 300 literary figures have signed an open letter denouncing the publisher Penguin Random House for its decision to publish a new book by Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the aftermath of her vote to overturn Roe v Wade and end the right to aboriton access in the US.
“This is not just a book that we disagree with, and we are not calling for censorship. Many of us work daily with books we find disagreeable to our personal politics,” the letter reads, in part. “Rather, this is a case where a corporation has privately funded the destruction of human rights with obscene profits.”
The authors of letter argue that the publishing house’s $2m book deal with Ms Barrett violates its own commitments to human rights. The right to an abortion is spelled out in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Penguin Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann includes in its code of conduct.
“Coney 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,” the letter reads.
Ms Barrett was appointed to the Court shortly before the 2020 presidential election as a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her most notable contribution thus far has been her vote to overturn Roe v Wade, though the letter also notes that she has taken votes to strip away the rights to privacy and self-determination.
Signatories to the open letter include workers at other major publishing houses like Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, as well as professors, literary agents, and writers.
Ms Barrett’s book is reportedly about how judges should not bring their personal feelings or beliefs into how they rule on cases. Politico reported that the $2m advance Ms Barrett recieved for the book was an “eye-raising amount” among publishing industry sources and likely the largest book deal fee since books written by Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O’Connor.
“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 reads. “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.”
Ms Barrett is a member of People of Praise, a Christian faith group founded in South Bend, Indiana and described as “secretive” by The Guardian. Her father reportedly had a leadership role in the group in the role. Ms Barrett is a practicing Catholic.
“We the undersigned have made the decision to stand by our duty of care while upholding freedom of speech,” the letter reads. “We cannot stand idly by while our industry misuses free speech to destroy our rights.”
