Penguin Employees Demand Publisher Spike Amy Coney Barrett Book Over Abortion Vote

Leigh Vogel/UPI

Hundreds of professionals from the literary world signed an open letter objecting to publisher Penguin Random House dropping $2 million for a book from Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, specifically objecting to the judge’s vote this year to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The letter — which was signed by a number of Penguin Random House employees — argued there needs to be a balance between “freedom of speech” and “duty of care.”

“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 with freedom of speech with a duty of care,” it read.

According to the protesters, the book deal with the judge equates to a company “privately” funding the “destruction of human rights.”

“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,” the objectors wrote.

The protesters claimed they are not calling for “censorship,” but insisted Penguin Random House needs to reevaluate its relationship with Barrett.

“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,” they wrote.

Barrett’s book deal was first announced last year. The deal was inked with Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel. Justices releasing books is nothing new — everyone from Neil Gorsuch to Sonia Sotomayor have published works in recent years.

According to Politico, Barrett’s book will touch on “how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule.” She was paid a $2 million advance.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]