A judge has ruled that a libel lawsuit former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin filed against the New York Times over a 2017 editorial should be thrown out because her lawyers failed to produce adequate evidence that the newspaper knew what it wrote about her was false or acted recklessly toward indications it was false.
The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff Monday came as a Manhattan jury was deliberating on Palin’s suit, which claimed the Times and former editorial page editor James Bennet defamed her by unfairly linking her to a 2011 shooting spree in Arizona that killed six people and gravely wounded then-Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.).
Rakoff said he would continue to allow the jury to deliberate to a verdict and added that he considers an appeal in the case to be inevitable. The judge’s decision came after a trial that lasted a little more than a week and as the jury was in its second day of deliberations.
via wnd
Judge throws out Sarah Palin’s libel case against N.Y. Times
The right decision, but terrible timing of the announcement. He should have waited until the jury verdict. Over-ruling New York Times v. Sullivan may be Sarah Palin’s most important legacy.