Trump loses second Supreme Court bid over E Jean Carroll sex abuse case

What the report says

The US Supreme Court has again declined to take up President Donald Trump’s appeal in the civil case brought by writer E Jean Carroll, leaving in place a jury finding that he sexually abused and defamed her. According to Al Jazeera’s report, the court’s latest order, released Monday, rejected Trump’s request to revisit a prior decision from June that had already turned away the appeal.

Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the ruling means the jury’s verdict is now final. The case at issue stemmed from Carroll’s allegations that Trump abused her in a Manhattan department store in 1996 and later defamed her in public comments. The Supreme Court gave no explanation for its decision, which is typical for rehearing requests.

The report says Carroll has already collected about $5.8m, including interest, from the earlier judgment tied to Trump’s 2022 social media posts describing her claim as false. Separate litigation between the two has also resulted in a much larger defamation award: a jury in 2024 ordered Trump to pay $83.3m in another case, which he is also seeking to challenge. The broader significance is that the latest Supreme Court refusal further narrows Trump’s options in one of the most closely watched civil cases involving a former president and a long-running sexual misconduct allegation.