Former Alaska Governor and conservative firebrand Sarah Palin has once again lost her defamation case against The New York Times, after a federal jury took just two hours to rule in favor of the liberal media giant. The case stemmed from a blatantly false 2017 editorial that linked Palin to the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona — a tragic event in which Democrat Rep. Gabby Giffords was critically injured.
The editorial, titled “America’s Lethal Politics,” incorrectly claimed that Palin’s political action committee had incited the shooting through the use of political imagery. Though the Times issued a correction two days later, Palin and her legal team argued the damage had already been done — and that the editorial was published with “actual malice,” the legal threshold required for defamation cases involving public figures.
Despite those arguments, and clear evidence of negligence by then-editorial page editor James Bennet, the court sided with the Times. The newspaper predictably claimed vindication, saying the verdict proved that “publishers are not liable for honest mistakes.”
This retrial followed a controversial decision by Clinton-appointed Judge Jed Rakoff, who dismissed the case in the middle of jury deliberations during the original trial — an action that led a federal appeals court, including judges appointed by both Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, to demand a new trial due to Rakoff’s improper conduct.
Even with the retrial, Palin was still unable to overcome the massive legal hurdle erected by the Supreme Court’s 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan decision, which has long shielded powerful media corporations from accountability — unless a plaintiff can prove they acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
Palin, who has remained a strong voice for conservative values despite relentless attacks from the mainstream press, has not yet indicated whether she will pursue an appeal. But for many on the right, the verdict is just another example of how legacy media outlets like The New York Times continue to operate without consequence, even when their reporting unfairly targets conservatives.
As more Americans lose trust in corporate media, Palin’s case highlights what many see as a double standard: if a liberal public figure had been falsely accused in a similar fashion, would the outcome have been the same? Conservatives have their doubts.
