Roy Moore's bid to collect an $8.2 million defamation judgment has hit a wall at the nation's highest court, which declined to intervene in the case without explanation.
The former Alabama Supreme Court justice and failed Senate candidate had petitioned the Supreme Court asking it to clear away legal obstacles that stood between him and the jury award. The court's decision to reject his appeal leaves the lower court rulings intact and effectively closes off Moore's path to collecting the damages.
Moore had pursued the defamation case seeking to recover the substantial judgment, but encountered roadblocks in the judicial process that prompted his appeal to the Supreme Court. The nation's highest court's refusal to hear the matter signals the end of his legal challenge on this front.
The case represents another setback for the controversial Alabama figure, whose political career has been marked by legal battles and electoral defeats. His 2017 Senate run ended in a narrow loss, and his legal troubles have continued in subsequent years.
The Supreme Court's action, while terse, underscores that the justices saw no constitutional issue worthy of the court's time or jurisdiction. Defamation cases typically turn on state law rather than federal constitutional questions, making Supreme Court review a high bar to clear.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Moore keeps swinging at legal obstacles that simply won't budge, and the Supreme Court just made clear it has no interest in helping him find a way around them."
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