A new jury was chosen on Monday for the retrial of Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, claims the newspaper defamed her in a 2017 editorial about gun control.
The editorial allegedly suggested that Palin’s political action committee ad helped incite a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona, where six people died and Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was seriously injured. The Times later corrected the editorial and apologized for the error.
Palin initially lost the case in 2022, when a federal jury and judge ruled against her. However, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan found that the original trial was flawed due to several rulings by the presiding judge.
This led to the court ordering a retrial, which is now underway in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff.
The newly selected jury consists of nine members—five women and four men—chosen by Judge Rakoff and attorneys from both sides. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.
Palin’s lawsuit centers on the claim that the Times’ editorial, titled “America’s Lethal Politics,” wrongly implied she was responsible for encouraging violence. The Times has maintained that the editorial’s reference to Palin was brief and unintentional, and that it did not cause her harm.
A Times spokesperson described the lawsuit as focusing on “a fleeting mention of an event in an editorial” that was not primarily about Palin.
This retrial comes amid a shifting national climate, where public trust in the media has declined and defamation lawsuits have become more prominent.
The case also highlights ongoing debates about the limits of press freedom and the protections journalists have under the First Amendment, especially when reporting on public figures like Palin.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks and may include testimony from Palin and James Bennet, the former editorial page editor at The New York Times. The outcome could have significant implications for how defamation law applies to media coverage of political figures.
In summary, Sarah Palin’s defamation suit against The New York Times is back in court, offering her a rare second chance to prove that the newspaper’s 2017 editorial falsely linked her to a deadly shooting, despite her previous legal setbacks
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