GRIM READING

Publisher Blasted Over $2M Amy Coney Barrett Book Deal

“We cannot stand idly by while our industry misuses free speech to destroy our rights.”

Over 260 people in the literary world have signed an open letter in protest against a publisher’s decision to release a book by Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Penguin Random House’s reported $2 million deal with the conservative jurist should be re-evaluted, the signatories say, because of Coney Barrett’s membership in the 6-3 majority which ended the constitutional right to abortion. “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. “We the undersigned have made the decision to stand by our duty of care while upholding freedom of speech. We cannot stand idly by while our industry misuses free speech to destroy our rights.”