Sarah Palin outside court for her defamation trial againstThe New York Times.Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sarah Palinfailed to proveThe New York Timesacted with “actual malice” when it falsely linked her political group to a 2011 mass shooting, a federal judge ruled on Monday — meaning her potentially precedent-upending libel suit against the paper will be dismissed.
Jurors in the trial are already deliberating. But per thePost, Judge Jed S. Rakoff wanted the jury to be able to return a verdict even though he intends to set it aside because he expects the case will be appealed.
TheTimesreports that “his decision to allow the jury to continue weighing the evidence was intended to avoid any complications should the case continue moving through the federal courts.”
A spokesman for Palin, 58, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
A spokeswoman for theTimeshailed it as “a reaffirmation of a fundamental tenet of American law: public figures should not be permitted to use libel suits to punish or intimidate news organizations that make, acknowledge and swiftly correct unintentional errors.”
“Actual malice” is either acting on the knowing falseness of information or with a reckless disregard for whether it is true.
Sarah Palin outside court for her defamation trial againstThe New York Times.John Minchillo/AP/Shutterstock
Despite his decision, Rakoff criticized the paper’s process and said he had been “not at all happy to make this decision,” according to reports.
“This is an example of very unfortunate editorializing on the part ofThe Times,” he found. “But having said that, that’s not the issue before this court.”
After Palin sued for defamation in 2017, a judgeinitially dismissedthe case. But afederal appealscourt revived it — leading to the current trial.
Both she and theTimeseditorial editor at the time the column was publishedtestified at the trialin New York.
Palin said the false implication in the piece had affected her both emotionally and professionally.
“It was devastating to read a false accusation that I had anything to do with murder,” Palin said on the stand last week,according to the Associated Press. “I felt powerless — that I was up against Goliath. The people were David. I was David.”
TheTimespiece initially stated there was a link between the map and the shooting, though the papercorrected thattwo days later, admitting was no such link was established.
“We’re sorry about this and we appreciate that our readers called us on the mistake,” the paper said in a social media post.
On the stand at the trial, formerTimeseditorial page editor James Bennet called the incident a “terrible mistake,“the AP reported.
“We are human beings. We do make mistakes,” Bennet said, adding: “I’ve regretted it pretty much every day since. That’s on me. That’s my failure.”
source: people.com
