Sarah Palin's libel claims against The New York Times is taken to a new jury [View all]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 26 February 2026 01:44 EST


Sarah Palin's eight-year-old defamation claims against The New York Times are being heard anew by a Manhattan jury this week, following their revival by an appeals court last year. Lawyers for the one-time Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, alongside the newspaper's legal team, are expected to present testimony and exhibits detailing the creation and subsequent correction of a 2017 editorial. Palin asserts the publication defamed her by erroneously linking her campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting.

In his opening statement, attorney Shane Vogt told jurors that the newspaper had engaged in a “sickeningly familiar pattern” by targeting a popular Republican personality.

The Times admits it made an error, but attorney Felicia Ellsworth said in her opening that the newspaper “corrected the record as loudly, clearly and quickly as possible.” She said the correction was posted within 14 hours, and jurors will have to conclude that the newspaper's editors knew they were saying something false and said it anyway to reach a verdict against the Times and its former editorial page editor, James Bennet.

Palin sued the Times for unspecified damages in 2017, accusing it of damaging her career as a political commentator with the editorial about gun control published after U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was wounded when a man with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a congressional baseball team practice in Washington.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/sarah-palin-new-york-times-b2927836.html