The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's appeal, effectively ending his long-running defamation lawsuit against a Democratic-aligned political action committee. The justices' decision leaves in place an appellate ruling that overturned an $8.2 million jury verdict in Moore's favor.
The case centered on television commercials aired during the 2017 special election for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat. The ads, funded by Highway 31, a group backed by the Senate Majority PAC, suggested that Moore had been banned from a local mall for soliciting sex from teenage girls. The ads cited news reports detailing accusations from several women, including one who alleged Moore initiated a sexual encounter when she was 14 and he was in his 30s. Moore has consistently denied the allegations.
Moore, the Republican nominee in that race, lost to Democrat Doug Jones. He subsequently sued the PAC and related entities for defamation and invasion of privacy, arguing the commercials were misleading and falsely implied he had solicited sex from a minor.
In 2022, an Alabama jury awarded Moore $8.2 million. However, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the verdict, ruling that Moore had failed to satisfy the "actual malice" standard established in New York Times v. Sullivan. That standard requires public figures to prove that the publisher knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
Moore's attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court's decision has broader implications for political advertising. "Modern political ads are built from excerpts of statements. If a publisher can escape a jury's verdict by accurately quoting each fragment while manufacturing a false whole, Masson's core holding is nullified for the very media where fabrication is easiest and most damaging," they wrote, referencing the 1991 precedent that altered quotes only constitute defamation if they change the factual meaning.
The Senate Majority PAC did not file a response to Moore's petition. The Supreme Court's denial comes amid a term that has already seen the justices address other contentious issues, including a recent climate case and a dispute over school speech restrictions.
Legal experts note that the actual malice standard remains a high bar for public figures, and this case underscores the challenges they face in defamation suits. The Court's decision not to hear Moore's appeal means the appellate ruling stands, closing the chapter on a case that drew national attention during a contentious political season.
Moore, who was also removed from the Alabama Supreme Court in 2003 for refusing to comply with a federal court order regarding the Ten Commandments, has not commented publicly on the decision.
