Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Over the years, I have written repeatedly (here, here, here, here, and here) about the interesting defamation case brought by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, against the New York Times. The judge in the case U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff was previously reversed and proceeded to issue novel and deeply flawed rulings before dismissing her case. 

He has now been reversed again and Palin will have a new opportunity to sue the newspaper. Given Judge Rakoff's dismal record in this case, it is concerning that he will be allowed to preside in any new trial.

In the opinion below, the three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a 2022 jury verdict in favor of the New York Times due to the errors of Judge Rakoff.

The case involves an editorial that suggested Palin inspired or incited Jared Loughner's 2011 shooting of then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). It was outrageously and demonstrably untrue. The editorial was published in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and other GOP members of Congress by James T. Hodgkinson, of Illinois, 66, a liberal activist and campaign supporter of Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). It appears The Times wanted to shift the narrative back to right-wing violence; it stated that SarahPAC, Palin's political action committee, had posted a graphic that put Giffords in crosshairs before she was shot, described it as direct incitement of violence and opined that while not as guilty as Palin, "liberals should of course hold themselves to the same standard of decency that they ask of the right."