Roy Moore takes fight over $8.2 million defamation award to US Supreme Court
The case involves television ads that run during Moore's campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2017.
Ryan Cooper 
Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has escalated his legal battle regarding a defamation case tied to the 2017 special Senate election. Moore is now petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay on a lower court’s ruling that derailed a massive financial judgment in his favor.
The Origins of the Legal Fight
The ongoing litigation centers on a series of television advertisements aired by the Senate Majority PAC during Moore’s 2017 campaign. In 2022, a federal jury sided with Moore, finding that the PAC defamed him in the political spots and awarding him $8.2 million in damages.
However, the tide turned in April of this year when the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that verdict. The appellate court determined that Moore failed to meet the "actual malice" threshold required for defamation cases against public figures, a standard established by the 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan decision.
Emergency Intervention Sought
Moore’s attorney, Jeffrey Wittenbrink, filed an emergency request for a stay on Friday. According to SCOTUS blog, the goal is to prevent the district court from releasing the bond money, which would essentially strip the $8.2 million award from Moore's reach while he prepares a petition for a writ of certiorari.
Wittenbrink maintains that the initial jury decision was correct, arguing that the PAC’s ads were not honest reporting but a "maliciously false misrepresentation" of news stories that emerged late in the 2017 campaign. Wittenbrink claimed the ads spliced separate reports to create a false narrative that Moore had solicited a 14-year-old girl.
Where the Case Stands Now
The emergency motion has been filed with Justice Clarence Thomas, who oversees the 11th Circuit. To date, Thomas has not directed the Senate Majority PAC to provide a response. The 11th Circuit had previously denied Moore’s request for a stay on June 8.
When the appeals court overturned the verdict in April, Senate Majority PAC attorney Ezra Reese hailed the decision as a "total vindication," asserting that their advertising was based on accurate reporting from national news outlets regarding allegations against Moore. The ad in question aired over 500 times during a campaign that ultimately saw Moore defeated by Democrat Doug Jones.
Past Legal Precedents
This is not the only high-profile defamation battle involving the former judge. In 2022, a Montgomery County jury presided over a trial involving Moore and one of his accusers, Leah Corfman. The jury ultimately found that neither party had successfully proven defamation against the other.
