The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an
appeal from Andrew Shirvell, who was ordered to pay $3.5 million for
targeting a gay student at the University of Michigan.
Shirvell, an alum of UofM, protested
the 2010 election of Chris Armstrong as the school's first openly gay
student body president. He attacked Armstrong on the Internet, at
his home and at university events. At
his now private blog Chris
Armstrong Watch, he accused the student of preying on
impressionable freshman and of being “Satan's representative on the
student assembly,” and labeled Armstrong a Nazi, a racist, a liar
and an elitist.
His actions led to his firing as state
assistant attorney general.
Armstrong, who graduated in 2011, filed
a defamation suit against Shirvell. A jury handed Armstrong a $4.5
million award. A federal appeals court refused Shirvell's request
for a new trial, but reduced the jury's award to $3.5 million.
During an appearance on CNN's Anderson
Cooper 360, Shirvell defended his right to harass Armstrong.
“I'm a Christian citizen exercising
my First Amendment rights. I have no problem with the fact that
Chris is a homosexual. I have a problem with the fact that he's
advancing a radical homosexual agenda,” Shirvell said.