Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against The New York Times to begin second trial Monday

• Sarah Palin will have another chance to retry her defamation case against The New York Times after losing her first trial in 2022. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the presiding judge tainted the verdict, leading to a new trial starting April 14.
• Palin’s lawsuit stems from a 2017 editorial by The Times that she claims accused her of inciting murder in the Tucson shooting.
• The judge’s premature ruling during jury deliberations and jurors learning of the dismissal through phone notifications led to the appeals court’s decision for a retrial.

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Sarah Palin, the former governor and vice presidential candidate, will have another chance to retry her defamation case against The New York Times. The new trial comes after she originally lost the case she brought against The Times.

Jury selection will begin Monday, April 14, in a Manhattan federal court.

Palin lost her first trial in 2022. However, in August 2024, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the presiding judge tainted the verdict, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.

Why did the court rule that the verdict was tainted?

The appeals court said the judge had tainted the verdict after he ruled Palin failed to make a credible case as the jury was deliberating. He then announced that he would find The Times not liable for defamation.

Judge Rakoff said every item Palin’s lawyers put forward alleging ill will by the publication “consists either of gross supposition or of evidence so weak that, even together, these items cannot support the high degree of particularized proof” that they would need to move forward.

The judge announced his decision in court but said he would not formally issue it until the jury’s verdict. The next day, the jury unanimously decided against Palin.

Several jurors later said they had learned of Judge Rakoff’s ruling dismissing the case through notifications on their phones before they finished deliberating. This revelation made Palin’s team appeal the decision.

The appellate court found Judge Rakoff had not followed proper procedure in the case. However, Palin’s team did not convince the court to remove Rakoff from the case and he will preside over the new case beginning Monday.

What did The Times article say?

Palin took issue with an editorial written by The Times in June 2017. Palin’s lawyers argued that the article accused her of inciting murder in the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and gravely injured then-Rep. Gabby Giffords.

The opinion piece did not offer any proof suggesting that ads used by Palin motivated the shooter. The ad in question overlaid a crosshairs graphic over Giffords’ district.

Palin later denied she meant the graphic to look like a gun sight, saying it’s part of the hunting lexicon that critics say she prefers.

The Times later apologized and corrected the article after it claimed that a link was established to the shooting and the ads used by Palin. The publication also apologized after it said the map circulated by Palin’s team depicted individual lawmakers, instead of the lawmakers’ districts.

What could come from this case?

Palin has said she is not seeking to recover any lost income due to the article. If she does win the case, there may be some press protections that may be lost but at this time, it’s unclear what.

It’s also important to note that federal courts apply state law to defamation cases and New York lawmakers just passed a new state law after her suit was first filed, strengthening press freedoms.

The trial will last at least a week.