Sarah Palin v The New York Times Company

On Monday 24th January, proceedings for a defamation trial between Sarah Palin and The New York Times Company were due to begin at the federal court in the Southern District of New York. However, proceedings have been delayed due to Palin testing positive for COVID-19 and her insistence that she attends the trial in person and not remotely.[1]

The proceedings relate to an editorial published by The New York Times newspaper alleging that Sarah Palin’s political action committee (“PAC”) incited the 2011 mass shooting that wounded a former US Representative, Gabby Giffords. According to the editorial, the shooting was linked to Palin’s PAC circulating an advertisement that displayed the congressional districts of Giffords and other Democrats with crosshairs over them. The article was later altered to remove the suggestion of incitement.

Sarah Palin is perhaps best known as the former governor of Alaska and the vice presidential nominee in the 2008 US presidential election. She served as the 9th governor of Alaska (being the first female governor of the state) from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She chose to resign as a result of both her and the state spending a large amount of time and money responding to numerous Freedom of Information Act requests and legal ethics complaints.[2] The New York Times, meanwhile, has not lost a defamation case in the USA for over 50 years,[3] owing to the strong legal protections stemming from the landmark 1964 Supreme Court ruling in New York Times Co v Sullivan.[4] James Bennet was the opinion editor at the Times when the editorial in question was published and is thus the main target of Palin’s lawsuit. He ‘frequently came under fire’ while at the Times for his editorial decisions[5] and resigned from the newspaper in 2020.

The federal court originally dismissed the case in 2017, with Judge Jed Rakoff ruling that the editorial contained ‘a few factual inaccuracies’ and while it might be negligence, it was plainly not defamation of a public figure.[6] However, an appeals court overturned that decision in 2019 and allowed the case to proceed.

Palin argues that the Times and its former opinion editor, James Bennet, knowingly published false claims about her, as ‘stories attacking Governor Palin inflame passions, which drives viewership and Web clicks’.[7] The Times, on the other hand, has argued that its comments against Palin’s PAC were made by mistake, lacking “actual malice”, demonstrated by the fact that they issued a correction which removed the inaccuracy.[8] In the USA, in order for a public figure to prove that they have been defamed, “actual malice” must also be present. According to court papers, Palin has estimated that the Times owes her $421,000 in damages.[9]

The trial has been delayed in light of Palin contracting COVID-19 and her wish to appear for it in person. It is now set to begin on February 3rd, on the condition that Palin is asymptomatic or only has mild symptoms.[10] As The Washington Post summarises, the case is expected to ‘help demarcate the line between really bad journalism and libelous journalism’.[11]

[1] Alison Durkee, ‘Here’s Why Sarah Palin Is Taking The New York Times To Court’ (Forbes, 24 January 2022) <https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/01/24/heres-why-sarah-palin-is-taking-the-new-york-times-to-court/?sh=76555d6064ff> accessed 25 January 2022

[2] Jim Carlton, ‘Palin Confidante Says Governor Felt Hampered by Probes’ (The Wall Street Journal, 7 July 2009) <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124691179571701975> accessed 25 January 2022

[3] Durkee (n1).

[4] 376 US 254 (1964).

[5] Durkee (n1).

[6] Sarah Palin v The New York Times Company Case 1:2017cv04853 Document 45, page 25 <https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.476650/gov.uscourts.nysd.476650.45.0_1.pdf> accessed 25 January 2022

[7] Durkee (n1).

[8] ibid.

[9] Jonathan Stempel and Helen Coster, ‘Sarah Palin set to battle New York Times at defamation trial’ (Reuters, 24 January 2022) <https://www.reuters.com/world/us/sarah-palin-set-battle-new-york-times-defamation-trial-2022-01-23/?utm_source=pocket_mylist> accessed 25 January 2022

[10] Durkee (n1).

[11] Erik Wemple, ‘Opinion: Sarah Palin v NYT: Exploring the line between bad journalism and libelous journalism’ (The Washington Post, 21 January 2022) <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/21/sarah-palin-v-nyt-exploring-line-between-bad-journalism-libelous-journalism/> accessed 25 January 2022