A jury on Tuesday found the New York Times “not liable” in a lawsuit filed by Sarah Palin alleging that a 2017 editorial damaged the career of the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee.
The unanimous verdict by the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York corresponds with the Monday ruling of Judge Jed Rakoff, who said Palin’s case should be rejected because her legal counsel did not produce evidence the publication knew what it wrote about her was false in 2017 and failed to prove it was written with malicious intent.
The judge’s decision to throw out Palin’s trial came as jurists were still deliberating the verdict on Monday. Rakoff said he reached the same conclusion as the jury on Tuesday.
JUDGE TOSSES SARAH PALIN’S LIBEL LAWSUIT AGAINST NEW YORK TIMES
Palin’s lawsuit surrounded a 2017 editorial that erroneously linked her to a 2011 shooting that injured six people and gravely wounded then-Rep. Gabby Giffords. The New York Times asserted a 2010 map released by Palin’s political action committee, which featured stylized crosshairs over 20 Democratic House districts, held a connection to the shooting but corrected the story within 48 hours.
During closing arguments, Palin’s attorney Kenneth Turkel said the editorial served as a template for how the New York Times “treated people on the right they don’t agree with … They don’t care. She’s just one of ‘them.'”
New York Times attorney David Axelrod called the jury’s verdict an important moment “because it’s about freedom of the press,” adding the First Amendment protects journalists “who make an honest mistake when they write about a person like Sarah Palin … That’s all this was about — an honest mistake.”
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Rakoff also tossed Palin’s lawsuit in 2017 on a motion to dismiss. At the time, the judge argued it was a case of negligent journalism and not of knowing falsehood that a public figure must prove with evidence.
The Washington Examiner contacted Turkel’s office but did not receive a response.
