In a revealing excerpt from her upcoming memoir, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett shares her deep personal unease with affirming the death penalty for the Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
According to Newsweek, in her book, set for release on Sept. 9, 2025, Barrett discusses her internal conflict during a pivotal 2022 Supreme Court decision to reinstate Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
The tragic events that led to this legal battle began on April 15, 2013, when Tsarnaev, along with his brother, detonated two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. This horrific act claimed the lives of three individuals and left hundreds injured, shocking the nation and sparking a massive manhunt. Tsarnaev was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to death for his role in the attack.
Following his conviction, legal challenges arose, and an appeals court initially vacated Tsarnaev’s death sentence, prompting further review. The case escalated to the Supreme Court after the Justice Department pushed for the reinstatement of the penalty. In March 2022, the high court, in a 6-3 decision split along ideological lines, ultimately restored the death sentence.
Justice Barrett, who joined the Supreme Court in 2020 after the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was among the majority in this ruling. Despite her vote, Barrett’s personal reservations about the decision have now come to light through her forthcoming memoir. Titled "Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution," the book offers a rare glimpse into her thought process.
In an excerpt published by the Free Press, Barrett admits her discomfort with the vote she cast. “I found the vote distasteful to cast, and I wish our system worked differently,” she writes candidly. “Yet I had no doubt that voting to affirm the sentence was the right thing for me to do,” Barrett adds.
She further elaborates on the tension between her views and the legal framework she swore to uphold. “The people who adopted the Constitution didn’t share my view of the death penalty, and neither do all my fellow citizens today,” Barrett notes in her memoir. Her words underscore a broader theme of separating personal feelings from judicial responsibility.
Barrett emphasizes the importance of impartiality in her role as a Supreme Court justice. “The oath federal judges take is a promise to leave personal preferences and biases at the courthouse door,” she explains in the excerpt. “The guiding principle in every case is what the law requires, not what aligns with the judge’s own concept of justice,” Barrett continues.
Beyond her written reflections, Barrett has spoken publicly about her desire to educate Americans on the judiciary. “I want Americans to understand the law, and that it’s not just an opinion poll about whether the Supreme Court thinks something is good or thinks something is bad,” she said in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning." Her comments aim to clarify the court’s role amid ongoing public scrutiny.
Barrett also addressed the external pressures justices often face in her discussion with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell. “People who criticize the court or who are outside say a lot of different things,” she acknowledged during the interview. “But again, the point that I make in the book is that we have to tune those things out,” Barrett stressed.
As Barrett prepares to mark her fifth anniversary on the Supreme Court in the fall of 2025, her memoir’s release on Sept. 9, 2025, adds a personal dimension to her tenure. Appointed by former President Donald Trump, she reportedly secured a $2 million deal for this introspective work. Her book joins a growing tradition among justices, as colleagues like Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson have also published early in their careers.
Jackson, for instance, reportedly earned over $2 million from her memoir last year, setting a precedent for such endeavors. Other justices, including Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh, have similarly signed deals to share their perspectives through books. Barrett’s contribution to this trend offers a unique window into the mind of a sitting justice.
To promote her memoir, Barrett is scheduled to begin a book tour on Thursday at a Free Press event in New York. Additional stops include prestigious venues like the Nixon and Reagan presidential libraries. She will also appear at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and the Library of Congress’s National Book Festival in Washington.
Through these engagements, Barrett aims to connect with the public and discuss her experiences on the bench. Her memoir and tour come at a time when the Supreme Court faces intense scrutiny over its decisions and ideological divides. Yet, her reflections suggest a commitment to explaining the judiciary’s role beyond partisan debates. Barrett’s candidness about the Tsarnaev case reveals the human side of a justice often seen as a figure of authority. Her struggle to reconcile personal unease with legal duty resonates as a central theme of her upcoming book. As readers await its release, her story promises to deepen public understanding of the complexities behind Supreme Court rulings.