Supreme Court Refuses To Help Roy Moore Save His $8.2 Million Defamation Verdict Against A Democratic Super PAC

The Supreme Court declined Monday to block an appeals court ruling that wiped out an $8.2 million defamation verdict Roy Moore had won against Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic-aligned group. Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles emergency matters from the 11th Circuit, denied Moore's request in a short order without explanation, allowing the lower court's decision to take effect and releasing the bond that had secured the award.

The case traces back to Moore's unsuccessful 2017 Senate campaign in Alabama, when he lost a special election to Democrat Doug Jones following sexual misconduct allegations from decades earlier.

Senate Majority PAC funded a television ad during that campaign referencing those allegations. Moore sued in 2019, arguing the ad defamed him by implying something he said was untrue.

A federal jury in Alabama sided with him in 2022 and awarded $8.2 million, finding the PAC had acted with "actual malice," the legal standard public figures must meet to win a defamation claim under the Supreme Court's 1964 ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that verdict in April, ruling unanimously that the ad amounted to "a negligent error at best" rather than actual malice, and that Moore's case did not meet the higher legal bar required.

Moore asked the Supreme Court to pause that ruling while he prepared a formal appeal, warning that without a stay he could lose any practical chance of collecting the award.

Thomas's denial removes that protection.

Moore's filing also leaned on a broader argument pushed by some conservative justices, including Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, that the Sullivan actual-malice standard itself deserves reconsideration.

That argument has not gained traction with the full court.

An attorney for Senate Majority PAC called Monday's outcome "a total vindication," saying the group had told Alabama voters the truth.

Moore can still file a full petition for the Supreme Court to take up the underlying case, but Monday's ruling removes the protection that was keeping his award intact while he tries.