The Supreme Court declined Monday to review a lower court’s sanctioning of lawyers who sued Dominion Voting Systems, Facebook and several swing state officials to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
Attorneys Gary Fielder and Ernest Walker filed a class-action lawsuit alleging an election fraud scheme in several swing states.
A lower court rejected the fraud claims and found that the lawyers and their clients did not have sufficient standing to bring the lawsuit, meaning there was not sufficient legal injury to bring the case. The lower court also cited issues with procedures the attorneys took in bringing the case.
The lawyers petitioned the justices to review the sanctions, arguing their “conduct did not rise to the level of bad faith” and protesting a finding that their lawsuit was frivolous.
“Because the subject matter was the 2020 presidential election, the district court seemed to disfavor the plaintiffs, dismissed their case, refused to allow amendment, and sanctioned their counsel to pay the attorney fees of the requesting defendants — some of whom were States that had no standing in the case, whatsoever. Ultimately, the decisions of the lower courts were based upon a misunderstanding of constitutional law,” the attorney representing Mr. Fielder and Mr. Walker told the high court.
They had been ordered to pay $186,000 to the defendants in their class-action case.
The lawyers sued Dominion Voting Systems, Facebook and its CEO, and the governors of swing states such as Michigan and Georgia.
Mr. Walker and Mr. Fielder did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the high court’s decision.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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