https://news.yahoo.com/300-sign-open-letter-attacking-185239460.html
The Independent
300 sign open letter attacking publisher for $2m Amy Coney Barrett book
Abe Asher
Thu, October 27, 2022 at 11:52 AM
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 abortion 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 received 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.”
