The Daily Fuckup

A federal judge in Manhattan decided the people who will decide E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case should not have their names, addresses or workplaces made public. The order, issued March 23, 2023, came weeks before trial and was aimed at limiting the risk that jurors would be targeted once the case moved into the spotlight.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the combination of Trump’s public remarks, the amount of coverage already surrounding the case and the likelihood of more attention at trial justified anonymity. He also ordered that selected jurors be kept together during recesses and transported in groups by U.S. Marshals.

Kaplan said the concern was not abstract. In his order, he pointed to the possibility of unwanted media attention, pressure from outsiders and retaliation aimed at people unhappy with the verdict. He also noted Trump’s history of attacking judges, witnesses and other figures in legal fights, treating that record as part of the context for the security decision.

The underlying case stems from Carroll’s claims that Trump sexually abused and later defamed her. The anonymity ruling did not decide the merits. It changed the terms of trial security, with the court concluding that ordinary jurors needed a buffer from the attention that would follow them if their identities were exposed.