Sarah Palin’s defamation suit retrial against the New York Times raises first amendment concerns

Victoria Bekiempis - TheGuardian - 20/04
She lost the first trial in 2022, but she gets ‘second bite of the apple’ due to a judge’s procedural errors

When Sarah Palin arrived at a federal court on Monday, her appearance promised little in the way of legal fireworks.

Palin was in downtown Manhattan for a retrial in her defamation lawsuit against the New York Times. She lost her first trial against the newspaper in 2022 and the legal basis of Palin’s civil claim – that an incorrect editorial unlawfully smeared her – remains the same.

The retrial granted to the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential contender stems from procedural errors rather than factual questions. The US second circuit court of appeals revamped Palin’s case in 2024, having determined that Judge Jed Rakoff wrongly intruded on jurors’ decision-making.

Jury selected in retrial of Sarah Palin’s libel case against the New York Times
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While the jury was originally deliberating, Rakoff decided that if they delivered a verdict in ...
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