Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has already been paid $425,000 for a book by RandomHousePenguinetc against a $2 million advance. But now 565 publishing insiders — mostly women — have signed a petition to stop the book from being published. The book has no title and no publishing date.
But Barrett is a lightning rod because she is one of the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. And that has painted a target on her back.
Many of the signees work for the Random House group, which makes the petition more interesting.
They write:
“As members of the writing, publishing, and broader literary community of the United States, we care deeply about freedom of speech. We also believe it is imperative that publishers uphold their dedication to freedom of speech with a duty of care.
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 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.”
You can read the rest of their text, called “We Dissent,” here. You can also see who signed the petition, which is open for more signatures.
Do I agree with these people? I admire their passion, but no, the book should be published, just like any other book. If you don’t want to buy it, or read it, then don’t. This calls more attention to it, otherwise. And no one ever heard of this book until now. Plus, when the deal was announced, that’s when this would have been effective. She’s not going to return it.
