The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Michael Cohen’s efforts to appeal his former boss and president, Donald Trump. Cohen accused Trump, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other federal officials of sending him back to prison in 2020 as a “retaliation” for speaking negatively about his former employer in his memoirs and on social media.
“This case represents the principle that presidents and their subordinates can jail critics of the executive branch without consequences. That cannot be the law in the country the Founders created when they threw off the yoke of the monarch,” Cohen’s petition to the Supreme Court said.
Cohen based his lawsuit on the Supreme Court’s 1971 decision of Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, which states “that a violation of an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights by federal officials may give rise to a federal cause of action for damages for unlawful ” to a person’s constitutional rights, according to Cornell Law School.
The former Trump lawyer served a prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2018 to nine charges, including lying to Congress. He began serving his sentence for his federal crimes in May 2019 before being released on furlough and placed on house arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While on home confinement, Cohen claims he was contacted by probation officers who instructed him to enter into a deal sign. ban him from speaking to the media or posting on social media.
After refusing to consent, Cohen was reportedly sent back to the correctional facility in Otisville, New York, where he said he was held in solitary confinement for 16 days. He was ultimately returned to home confinement after a federal court judge said his return to the facility occurred because Cohen “wanted to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book critical of the president and to book on social media,” according to CBS. News.
In 2020, U.S. Federal Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled that the Trump administration had violated Cohen’s First Amendment rights. Still, two lower courts dismissed the case, prompting Cohen to ask the Supreme Court to revive the case.
President Joe Biden’s administration asked the Supreme Court to reject Cohen’s appeal. Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar said in a filing that Congress is better suited than the courts to handle these types of damages:
“In deciding whether a plaintiff may seek a remedy under Bivens, a court must first determine whether the case presents ‘a new Bivens context.’ If so, ‘a Bivens remedy is not available if there are ‘special factors’ indicating that the judiciary is at least demonstrably less equipped than Congress to ‘weigh the costs and benefits of permitting an action for damages’.
“In light of these concerns, courts are ‘at least arguably less equipped than Congress’ to weigh the costs and benefits of allowing punitive damages actions for decisions about whether a prisoner will be in prison or on home confinement.” be placed.”
After the higher court’s decision, Alina Habba, one of Trump’s current attorneys, told Fox News: “Michael Cohen has exhausted every avenue in his pathetic attempt to sue my client again and again. As expected, the Supreme Court rightly denied Michael Cohen’s petition and he must finally abandon his frivolous and desperate claims.”
The judges did not elaborate on their ruling on Monday, but it came more than two weeks before the presidential elections, in which Trump is the Republican presidential candidate.
