{"id":2427523,"date":"2025-04-25T11:28:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T15:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jury-rules-against-sarah-palin-in-critical-defamation-case\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T11:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T15:32:16","slug":"jury-rules-against-sarah-palin-in-critical-defamation-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jury-rules-against-sarah-palin-in-critical-defamation-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury Rules Against Sarah Palin in Critical Defamation Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjury-rules-against-sarah-palin-in-critical-defamation-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2427523&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal jury recently ruled in favor of The New York Times in a defamation case brought by Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, after a retrial. Palin sued the Times over a 2017 editorial that she claimed incorrectly linked her campaign rhetoric to a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona, asserting that it damaged her reputation and political career. To win her case, Palin needed to prove that the Times acted with &#8220;reckless disregard&#8221; for the truth, which is a high standard to meet for public figures in defamation lawsuits.<\/p>\n<p>The jury found no evidence that the Times published the editorial with actual malice, a verdict that attorney Felicia Ellsworth said confirmed the editorial was an honest mistake. Although Palin&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/satanic-temple-loses-lawsuit-against-indiana-abortion-ban\/\" title=\"Satanic Temple fails in lawsuit against Indiana abortion ban.\">attorney expressed disappointment<\/a> over the lack of accountability for the Times, they had issued a correction shortly after the editorial was published. This correction likely influenced the jury&#8217;s decision in favor of the Times.<\/p>\n<p>The retrial was ordered by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after palin&#8217;s initial loss in 2022 was overturned due to procedural errors. Despite the new opportunity to present her case, Palin was unable to meet the necessary burden of proof, highlighting the challenges faced by public figures in similar cases against the media. The outcome of this case has reignited discussions within the GOP about reforming defamation laws,with many in the party arguing that the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">current standards disproportionately protect media outlets<\/a> like the Times.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-baltimore-city-states-attorney-marilyn-mosby-found-guilty-of-perjury\/\" title=\"Former Baltimore City State&#039;s Attorney Marilyn Mosby found guilty of perjury\">federal jury delivered<\/a> its verdict on Tuesday in Sarah Palin&rsquo;s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome is a setback for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sarah-palin-says-fox-news-canceled-spoke-mind-network-newsmax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">polarizing<\/a> former Alaska governor.<\/p>\n<p>Palin, a prominent Republican, sued the Times over a 2017 editorial, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/04\/22\/g-s1-62157\/new-york-times-alaska-governor-sarah-palin-libel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to NPR.<\/p>\n<p>She claimed it falsely linked her campaign rhetoric to a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>The editorial, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/06\/14\/opinion\/steve-scalise-congress-shot-alexandria-virginia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">titled<\/a> &ldquo;America&rsquo;s Lethal Politics,&rdquo; made the erroneous connection. Palin argued it damaged her reputation and career as a political figure.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The piece wrongly tied Palin&rsquo;s political action committee to the shooting. She sought to hold the Times accountable for what she saw as a smear, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/04\/22\/new-york-times-libel-sarah-palin-00304363\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">per<\/a> Politico.<\/p>\n<p>To win, Palin needed to prove the Times acted with &ldquo;reckless disregard&rdquo; for the truth. This &ldquo;actual malice&rdquo; standard is a high bar for public figures in defamation cases.<\/p>\n<p>The jury ruled in favor of the Times after a retrial. They found no evidence that the Times published the editorial with actual malice, a sentiment echoed by Felicia Ellsworth, an attorney for the Gray Lady.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not been one shred of evidence showing anything other than an honest mistake,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Kenneth Turkel, an attorney for Palin, was less than thrilled with the lack of &ldquo;accountability.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;To this day, there been no accountability,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re here.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Times issued a correction shortly after the 2017 editorial ran. This quick response likely influenced the jury&rsquo;s decision in their favor.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-sarah-palins-second-court-battle-new-york-times-kicks-off-judges-errors-marred-first\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">retrial<\/a> was ordered by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Palin&rsquo;s initial 2022 loss was overturned due to procedural errors in the first trial.<\/p>\n<p>The 2022 trial had issues that the appeals court deemed unfair. Palin was given a second chance to make her case against the Times.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the retrial, Palin couldn&rsquo;t meet the &ldquo;reckless disregard&rdquo; standard. The jury&rsquo;s verdict reaffirmed the challenges of proving malice in such cases.<\/p>\n<p>The verdict highlights the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sarah-palin-scores-major-court-win-battle-new-york-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">steep legal hurdles<\/a> any conservative faces against the establishment media. Even public figures like Palin struggle to win defamation cases.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome may fuel GOP calls to reform defamation laws.<\/p>\n<p>Many in the party argue the &ldquo;actual malice&rdquo; standard unfairly protects outlets like the Times.<\/p>\n<p>The ongoing battle between the establishment media and conservatives seems unlikely to fade away anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>Palin&rsquo;s case brought attention to media overreach against conservatives. Her fight exposed the Times&rsquo; error, even if the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-to-allow-political-expert-to-testify-in-madigan-corruption-trial-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Judge to allow political expert to testify in Madigan corruption trial - Washington Examiner\">jury didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t rule in her favor.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal jury announced its decision on Tuesday regarding Sarah Palin&#8217;s defamation case against The New York Times, marking a setback for the controversial former governor of Alaska. Palin, a notable Republican figure, filed the lawsuit over a 2017 editorial that she argued incorrectly associated her campaign language with a mass shooting in Arizona in 2011. The editorial, titled &#8220;America\u2019s Lethal Politics,&#8221; made this inaccurate connection. Palin contended that it harmed her reputation and political career<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2427524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Palin.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[48635,54085,45871,33211,39594],"class_list":["post-2427523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-defamation-case","tag-high-profile-lawsuits","tag-jury-verdict","tag-legal-news","tag-sarah-palin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Palin.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2427527,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427523\/revisions\/2427527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2427524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}