A jury on Tuesday rejected Sarah Palin’s libel claim in a lawsuit against The New York Times, but that’s unlikely to be the end of it. The former vice presidential nominee is almost certain to appeal, with an eye toward making this a test case before the U.S. Supreme Court. It could become the conservative court’s latest temptation to overturn important precedent that should be left alone.
Currently, public figures like Palin must show not merely that a statement was false and defamatory in order to prove libel, but also that it was made maliciously and with reckless disregard for the truth. The idea is that, when it comes to commentary regarding those at the center of society’s big cultural or political issues, the standard for libel must be higher than mere honest mistakes. Otherwise, it would have a chilling effect on open debate.
Palin is suing over a June 2017 New York Times editorial that falsely alleged that the gunman who killed six people and critically wounded then-U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords in Arizona in 2011 was incited by an ad from Palin’s political action committee that showed crosshair targets on Democratic districts. In fact, there’s been no evidence that the political ad had anything to do with the gunman’s actions.
