The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Donald Trump seeking to overturn a $5 million jury verdict in a defamation case involving writer E. Jean Carroll. The decision leaves in place the lower court's judgment regarding statements made by Trump about Carroll.
The legal dispute began after Carroll accused Trump of sexual assault in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. A jury previously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump has consistently denied the allegations and sought to have the verdict tossed out through multiple levels of the judicial system.
This latest action by the Supreme Court follows previous attempts by Trump’s legal team to challenge the jury's findings and the resulting financial penalties. The Court did not provide a detailed explanation for its decision to rebuff the appeal, which is standard for orders denying a petition for a writ of certiorari, or a request for the court to review a lower court's ruling.
The scale of the case involves millions of dollars in a high-profile civil litigation that has spanned several years. The $5 million verdict was reached by a jury in a federal court in New York. While this specific ruling focuses on the $5 million award, it reinforces the precedent that former presidents do not have absolute immunity from civil litigation arising from actions or statements that a court deems outside the scope of their official duties.
A person in a similar legal position would notice that a final denial from the Supreme Court effectively exhausts the primary avenues for appeal within the federal system. The ruling ensures that the financial judgment remains enforceable. The knock-on effects could influence how similar defamation or civil liability cases involving public figures are handled in the future. With the Supreme Court declining to intervene on Monday, the focus now shifts to the final collection or settlement of the judgment as required by law.