Palin is expected to appeal the case to a higher court…report Asian Lite News
A jury in New York City has rejected ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times newspaper, media reported.
Palin argued the Times defamed her in 2017 by linking her to a shooting that left six people dead. The verdict comes after the judge threw out the case on Monday, saying her lawyers had not presented the evidence required for public figures to sue, the BBC reported.
Palin is expected to appeal the case to a higher court, it was reported.
“The New York Times welcomes today’s decision,” the BBC quoted newspaper spokeswoman as saying.
“It is a reaffirmation of a fundamental tenet of American law: public figures should not be permitted to use libel suits to punish or intimidate news organisations that make, acknowledge and swiftly correct unintentional errors.”
Palin originally filed her lawsuit in 2017, arguing her reputation was damaged by an opinion piece written by its editorial board, which said her political rhetoric helped incite the 2011 shooting in Arizona that severely wounded US congresswoman Gabby Giffords and killed six other people.
A fundraising group for Palin had circulated a map of electoral districts that put Giffords and 19 other Democrats under “stylised crosshairs”, the newspaper said.
It later corrected the editorial and conceded the wording used in it was flawed.
During her witness testimony, Palin accused the New York Times of trying to “score political points” with the editorial, which she said left her feeling “powerless” and “mortified”. She also said the newspaper’s correction was insufficient – and didn’t include her name, the BBC reported.
On Monday, US District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed the case, saying that Ms Palin’s lawyers had failed to show that the newspaper acted with “actual malice”, according to the report.