Majority of Supreme Court's nine
members are millionaires
June 27, 2000
Web posted at: 7:24 PM EDT (2324 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A majority of
the Supreme Court's nine members were
millionaires as the year began, led by
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's family
wealth estimated at between $7.4 million
and $33.1 million.
Financial disclosure reports for 1999
indicated that at least five, and perhaps
six, of the top court's members held
investments worth over $1 million. Chief
Justice William H. Rehnquist may have
joined the court's millionaires club, but
Justice Antonin Scalia sold stock during
the year and dropped far below the
million-dollar level.
Federal judges, members of Congress
and other high-ranking government
officials are required to file annual reports. The federal law
requires only broad ranges of worth for assets and exempts
personal property and homes.
Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Paul
Stevens and David H. Souter are millionaires, according to their
reports. None came close, however, to Ginsburg and her lawyer
husband, Martin, whose long list of investments included six
worth between $1 million and $5 million each.
They included retirement accounts and a tax-exempt JMP
Pierpont bond fund, total assets of $7.4 million to $33.1
million.
Last year she reported assets from $5.9 million to $24.1 million.
O'Connor's report reflected the most varied investment
portfolio, state bonds and Treasury notes to holdings in
pharmaceutical and communications companies. Her ownership
of AT&T and MCI Worldcom stock, among others, has forced
O'Connor to disqualify herself from several cases in recent
years.
Rehnquist's total assets were reported in a range between
$525,000 to $1.3 million, up from $360,000 to $960,000 in
1998.
Scalia's reported assets fell to $145,000 to $535,000, down
from $645,000 to $1.5 million the previous year. He sold off
significant amounts of shares in 1999.
Bringing up the rear were Justices Anthony M. Kennedy
($65,000 to $195,000) and Clarence Thomas ($150,000 to
$410,000).
Rehnquist's annual salary is $181,400; the eight other Supreme
Court members receive $173,600.
In addition to the financial reports' usual listings of stock
holdings, some unusual entries cropped up.
Rehnquist listed as a donation to the Smithsonian Institution the
robe he wore during the Senate impeachment trial of President
Clinton. His report said the robe had been appraised by
Sotheby's at $30,000.
The chief justice did not respond when asked Tuesday whether
he had taken a tax deduction for the donation.
Among the noninvestment income Rehnquist received in 1999
was $15,000 from "the Lantz Office," his literary agent.
Thomas received an $800 commemorative jacket and traveled
free by private plane when he served as grand marshal of the
1999 Daytona 500 auto race.
And O'Connor received a crystal piece and china rose --
estimated value $500 -- when honored by the National First
Ladies' Library.
The financial disclosure reports were filed by May 15, and in
past years had been released within days or at most a few
weeks. The six-week delay this year was attributed to new rules
that allow judges to excise information from the reports they
feel might compromise their security.
"I can really say the intent is to get these reports released as
quickly as possible," said David Sellers, a spokesman for the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The reports for the nine justices were released Monday, the day
the Supreme Court announced several important rulings as it
neared the end of its 1999-2000 term.
"I guarantee you that was a coincidence," Sellers said. "The
release date had nothing to do with events occurring in the
Supreme Court."
The justices did excise much from their reports. Each signature
was blacked out, apparently to thwart would-be forgers, as were
some references to spouses and other family members.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
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