New York Times Not Liable For Defaming Sarah Palin, Jury Finds After Retrial Of Her Lawsuit

A jury sided with The New York Times after a retrial of Sarah Palin‘s claims that the news outlet defamed her in a 2017 editorial.

The jury deliberated for just over two hours before reaching their verdict, according to the Associated Press.

The June 14, 2017 Times piece, written hours after a shooter opened fire on a congressional softball game, delved into harsh political rhetoric and its links to violence. James Bennet, then the opinion editor, said in the original trial he was responsible for inserting an edit into the story that linked Palin’s political action committee to a 2011 mass shooting, in which six people were killed and Rep. Gabby Giffords was severely wounded.

In fact, no link was established between the PAC and the mass shooting, and the Times corrected the piece. But Palin still sued.

The case originally went to trial in early 2022, but as the jury was deliberating, the judge presiding, Jed Rakoff, told attorneys that he would toss out the case, concluding that Palin had not met the standard for showing actual malice. The jury continued to deliberate and reached a unanimous verdict in favor of the Times.

But Palin’s legal team appealed, and a three-judge appellate panel found fault for the way that the judge handled his decision. They noted that some jurors received push notifications on their smartphones, informing them of the judge’s plans to dismiss the case.