Ghislaine Maxwell Takes Appeal to Supreme Court

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, has taken her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her lawyers filed a petition on Friday asking the high court to review her conviction, arguing that she was unfairly prejudiced by the intense media coverage of the Epstein scandal.

The move comes after a federal appeals court in New York upheld her conviction in November 2024. In her appeal, Maxwell’s lawyers argue that the trial court should have moved the case out of New York City, where the media coverage was most intense. They also contend that the jury was not properly shielded from the “media firestorm” surrounding the case.

“The Epstein scandal created a media frenzy that was unprecedented in its scope and intensity,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote in their petition. “It was impossible for Ms. Maxwell to receive a fair trial in that environment.”

Legal experts are divided on the likelihood of the Supreme Court taking up the case. While the high court is generally reluctant to second-guess the decisions of lower courts, the intense public interest in the Epstein case could make it an exception.

“This is a long shot for Maxwell, but it’s not impossible,” said a professor of constitutional law at a top university. “The Supreme Court may be interested in weighing in on the issue of how to ensure a fair trial in the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle.”

The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear the case in the fall. If it does, it will be one of the most high-profile cases of the term.

For more on this story, see the original report from Reuters.