Judge says he will dismiss NY Times case after jury rules against Sarah Palin

The U.S. federal jury on Tuesday ruled against Sarah Palin in her lawsuit accusing the New York Times of defaming her in an editorial that correctly associated her with a mass shooting after the presiding judge said he would dismiss the case regardless of the verdict.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin arrives to federal court in New York City on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. | Jeenah Moon/AP Photo

Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is expected to appeal.

The Manhattan federal court case is seen as a significant test of longstanding libel protections for American media.

New York Times v Sullivan, a 1964 Supreme Court decision, established the "actual malice" standard for proving defamation against public figures such as Palin, meaning that media intentionally published false information with reckless disregard for the truth.

The U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said Palin had not met the "very high" standard, even as he criticized the Times for its "very unfortunate editorializing."

If Palin appeals, he suggested letting the jurors reach a verdict.

During her testimony on February 10, Palin viewed herself as the underdog to the Times' Goliath.

Her lawsuit was filed against the Times and its former editorial page editor, James Bennet, over an editorial that incorrectly linked her to a January 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that killed six people and wounded Democratic U.S. congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

A gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball practice in Virginia, wounding several people, including Republican U.S. congressman Steve Scalise.

A map circulated by Palin's political action committee before the Arizona shooting put Giffords' and 19 other Democrats' districts under crosshairs.

While there was no evidence that the map motivated the gunman, Bennett wrote that "the link to political incitement was clear."

After readers and one of its columnists complained, the Times corrected the editorial the next morning. Bennett testified that he did not mean to harm Palin and that he felt terrible about the mistake.

Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, two conservative Supreme Court justices, have called for the Sullivan decision to be reconsidered. Palin's case is not guaranteed to be taken up by the court.

Palin served as John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election and as governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009.