The Second Circuit refused en banc review of E. Jean Carroll's $83.3M defamation verdict, as Trump seeks a stay and prepares a Supreme Court petition on presidential immunity.
The full Second Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to rehear Donald Trump's appeal of the $83.3 million defamation judgment won by E. Jean Carroll, clearing the path for a Supreme Court petition on whether presidential immunity can bar civil defamation claims [1]. The en banc denial, issued April 30, came over a 54-page dissent arguing the panel had failed to resolve threshold presidential immunity questions before allowing the verdict to stand [1]. Trump moved quickly after the ruling, asking the Second Circuit to pause enforcement of the judgment while he prepares a petition to the Supreme Court [2].
The case arises from two civil trials in the Southern District of New York. A jury in the first trial found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and a second jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages on her defamation claims [1]. Trump appealed, and a Second Circuit panel affirmed the judgment. The en banc petition asked the full 12-member court to reconsider. Judge Steven Menashi wrote separately in dissent, contending the court should have first addressed whether Trump's statements, made during his first term, qualified as official-act speech protected by presidential immunity [1]. Judge Denny Chin was among the members of the court in the majority [1].
The substantive stakes are significant. Trump's anticipated Supreme Court petition will press two distinct legal theories: first, that the civil presidential immunity doctrine recognized in Trump v. United States extends to statements made in an official capacity, and second, that the Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from personal tort liability for acts within the scope of their employment, required substitution of the United States as the defendant and dismissal of Carroll's claims [1]. If the Supreme Court accepts either theory, both Carroll verdicts, totaling $88.3 million, could be vacated, and the doctrine governing presidential civil liability would be substantially redrawn [1].
Carroll agreed to a stay of enforcement, but conditioned her agreement on Trump posting an additional bond of $7.46 million to cover interest accruing while the litigation is held in abeyance [2]. Trump filed the stay application with the Second Circuit on or around May 7 [2]. The next procedural step is a formal Supreme Court petition. The timeline for that filing has not been publicly announced, but the stay request signals Trump's legal team regards certiorari as imminent. How the Court frames any grant, whether on immunity, Westfall substitution, or both, will determine the scope of any potential disruption to Carroll's judgments.