A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived Sarah Palin‘s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, finding several major issues “impugn the reliability” of the original outcome.
The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals faulted the trial judge for dismissing the case before the jury had reached a verdict. The jury was allowed to continue deliberating before ultimately finding the newspaper not liable in February 2022.
“Unfortunately, several major issues at trial — specifically, the erroneous exclusion of evidence, an inaccurate jury instruction, a legally erroneous response to a mid-deliberation jury question, and jurors learning during deliberations of the district court’s Rule 50 dismissal ruling — impugn the reliability of that verdict,” the opinion said.
In this Oct. 9, 2022 file photo Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Sarah Palin attends a campaign event ahead of mid-term elections in Anchorage, Alaska.
Kerry Tasker/Reuters, FILE
Palin sued the Times and its former opinion editor, James Bennett, over an editorial published on June 14, 2017. The piece, entitled “America’s Lethal Politics,” linked the 2011 shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to a digital graphic of a crosshairs over Democratic congressional districts published in March 2010 by Palin’s political action committee. A relationship between the crosshairs map and the shooting was never established. Rather, at the time of the editorial, the attack was widely viewed as a result of the shooter’s mental illness.
Palin’s original defamation lawsuit was dismissed but, in 2019, the Second Circuit vacated the dismissal. The case went to trial in 2022. Judge Jed Rakoff granted the Times’ motion for a directed verdict days before the jury found the newspaper was not liable for defaming Palin.
In its opinion on Wednesday, the appeals court agreed with Palin that Rakoff “erroneously disregarded or discredited her evidence of actual malice and improperly substituted its own judgment for that of the jury.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been granted a new trial in her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. The decision comes after a federal appeals court ruled that the original trial judge had made errors in his instructions to the jury.
The lawsuit stems from an editorial published by The New York Times in 2017, which falsely linked Palin to a mass shooting in Arizona. The editorial suggested that Palin’s political rhetoric had inspired the shooter, when in fact there was no evidence to support such a claim.
Palin filed suit against The New York Times, alleging that the editorial was defamatory and had damaged her reputation. In 2021, a jury found in favor of The New York Times, but Palin appealed the decision, arguing that the trial judge had given faulty instructions to the jury.
The appeals court agreed with Palin, ruling that the judge had made errors in his instructions regarding the standard of proof required to find defamation. The court also found that the judge had improperly excluded evidence that could have been favorable to Palin’s case.
As a result of the ruling, Palin will now have the opportunity to present her case to a new jury. This development is a significant victory for Palin, who has long maintained that The New York Times’ editorial was a deliberate attempt to smear her reputation.
The case has drawn national attention, as it raises important questions about the limits of free speech and the responsibility of journalists to report accurately and fairly. The outcome of the new trial could have far-reaching implications for media organizations and public figures alike.
In a statement following the appeals court’s decision, Palin expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to have her case heard again. She emphasized the importance of holding media outlets accountable for their reporting, particularly when it crosses the line into defamation.
The New York Times has not yet commented on the ruling, but it is expected that the newspaper will vigorously defend its editorial as a protected exercise of free speech. The case is likely to continue to garner widespread attention as it moves forward to a new trial.
Overall, the decision to grant Sarah Palin a new trial in her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times represents a significant development in a high-profile legal battle. It underscores the importance of upholding journalistic standards and ensuring that individuals are not unfairly maligned in the media.
