An appeals court on Friday overturned an $8.2 million defamation judgment won by Roy Moore, marking a significant reversal in a legal battle tied to misconduct allegations that have shadowed the former Alabama chief justice for years.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court decision that had awarded Moore damages in 2022 after he sued Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC over statements tied to accusations of sexual misconduct made during his 2017 U.S. Senate campaign.
“Moore is a public figure, and he failed to present clear and convincing evidence,” the 45-page ruling said.
In its decision, the three-judge panel said that the legal standard for defamation involving a public figure was not properly met, particularly the requirement to prove “actual malice.” Under longstanding precedent, public officials like Moore must demonstrate that the defendants either knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The court found that the evidence presented did not sufficiently meet that threshold, warranting reversal of the multimillion-dollar award.
“At most, it shows that SMP made a poor choice of words in—a negligent error at best. And a negligent error is not a basis for a finding of actual malice,” 11th Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch wrote in the opinion.
The Senate Majority PAC’s 2017 ad referenced allegations from multiple women who accused Moore of inappropriate sexual conduct decades earlier, including claims that he pursued teenagers while he was in his 30s.
Moore sued Senate Majority PAC in 2019 for libel, alleging the group defamed him and portrayed him in a false light. The lawsuit centered on claims that an ad suggested he pursued a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl working as a “Santa’s helper” at a mall in Gadsden, Alabama.
Moore has denied the accusations.
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An attorney for Moore, Jeff Wittenbrink, called Friday’s ruling disappointing and said he is weighing an appeal to the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court may look at the whole doctrine of actual malice, because this is really an egregious overturning of a jury verdict of a public figure,” Wittenbrink said.
Moore’s 2017 Senate bid was upended by the allegations just weeks before Election Day. The claims prompted widespread condemnation and bipartisan calls for him to withdraw from the race. Moore refused and ultimately lost to Democrat Doug Jones in a major political upset in the deeply conservative state.
Ezra Reese, a lawyer for the Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement to MS NOW that Friday’s reversal by the appellate court was a “complete vindication” of the group.
“Senate Majority PAC ran an advertisement that cited accurate reporting from major national news outlets detailing the women who bravely came forward with allegations about Moore’s inappropriate conduct,” Reese said, adding the PAC “told Alabama voters the truth” and “Alabama voters correctly decided that they did not want a disgusting creep like Roy Moore representing them in the United States Senate.”
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.