A federal jury said Tuesday that former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s libel lawsuit against the New York Times Co (NYSE:NYT) fell short.
The verdict comes one day after Jed S. Rakoff, the judge presiding in the case, said he would dismiss the case if the jury found in Palin’s favor.
An appeal is expected, the Times reported.
Palin V. The New York Times: The basis of the lawsuit is a 2017 Times editorial that “incorrectly linked Palin’s political rhetoric to a mass shooting,” according to the newspaper.
The editorial, which the Times corrected after it was published, linked Palin’s politics with a 2011 Tucson, Arizona mass shooting in which six people were killed and 14 were wounded, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat.
Giffords’ district was one of 20 pictured on a map underneath digital crosshairs in a document circulated by Palin’s political action committee, the Times said; there was no evidence the mass shooter saw the map.
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Why It's Important: The lawsuit represents a test of the nation’s libel laws in the form of the freedom of the press granted by the First Amendment and the precedent set by the Supreme Court for claims of defamation by the media.
A prior ruling involving the same newspaper, 1964’s New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, held that litigants who are public figures must prove more than just a false statement by a journalist: they must prove a journalist showed actual malice in the publication of false information in order for the news organization to be held liable.
The High Court defined “actual malice” surrounding a falsehood as “knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”
In delivering a verdict against Palin, the jury decided she didn't meet that test.
The case has taken several notable turns. Rakoff’s statement that he would throw out the case came while the jury was still deliberating.
The trial was delayed after Palin, 58, tested positive for the coronavirus. She was later spotted dining in a Manhattan restaurant despite the test result and being unvaccinated; New York City requires proof of vaccination for indoor dining.
What’s Next: Palin is expected to appeal to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Axios reported, adding that her desire to challenge the actual malice standard for libel would have to go to the Supreme Court.
“I think a lot of media companies and lawyers representing media companies are probably breathing a big sigh of relief right now,” Christy Hull Eikhoff, a media and defamation lawyer at Alston & Bird, told Axios.
Photo: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
