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After just three hours of deliberation, a jury in New York on Tuesday found the New York Times not liable for defaming former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
It is, in essence, the third time Palin has lost this particular case. In early 2022, she lost it two times in quick succession, first when U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff announced he would dismiss the case regardless of what the jury found, and second when the jury found the Times not liable.
But a three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out both decisions in 2024, finding that Judge Rakoff had made a series of errors in the case. It was then retried this month, before the very same judge, and with largely the very same facts—except this time, the prosecution was allowed to introduce the detail that former New York Times editor James Bennet’s brother is Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, as well as articles published in the Atlantic from James Bennet’s tenure there as editor in chief.
Throughout the trial, Judge Rakoff cracked jokes about the 2nd Circuit’s opinion. “I’m still bleeding from some of their comments,” he told the court at the conclusion of evidence. With the jury out of the room, he seemed as unpersuaded as ever by the facts presented by Palin’s team. Even so, “whether I think the 2nd Circuit was right or wrong, I know well they are my boss,” Judge Rakoff said from the bench, and he let the jury decide this time. Ultimately, the jurors seemed to agree with his assessment.
Palin, the final witness in the case, took the stand Monday in a shimmering and sequined silver blazer, where she testified to the 2017 editorial’s impact on her life.
