Sarah Palin defamation suit against The New York Times heads to trial

Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is getting her day in court Monday, when jury selection begins in her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. Palin filed suit against the Times in 2017, accusing the newspaper and later former editorial page editor James Bennet of defaming her in an editorial that linked a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona to an ad by her PAC that took aim at one of the victims, then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).
Palin lawsuit claims that Bennet, who has acknowledged adding language to a draft prepared by Times editorialists, knew that no link had been established between her PAC's ads and the Giffords shooting. The Times amended the editorial within 24 hours, disclaiming any connection between the Arizona shooting and political rhetoric and correcting its erroneous assertion that the crosshairs on Palin's political map were over the candidates she was targeting themselves.
Palin, 57, has a high bar to clear to prove "actual malice" by Bennet or the Times, the standard for libeling public officials the Supreme Court set 58 years ago in New York Times v. Sullivan. And she cannot count on a friendly jury in federal court in Manhattan. Palin has said in court filings she will appeal a loss and hopes to overturn the "actual malice" standard, and at least two Supreme Court justices, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have indicated they would like to revisit that standard.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is a lawsuit over an editorial, essentially an opinion. This is a potentially dangerous area," Roy Gutterman, a Syracuse University law and communications professor, tells Reuters. "If we give public officials a green light to litigate on editorials they disagree with, where's the end?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?
Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Temple Mount: the politics of Judaism's holiest site
The Explainer Latest provocation at religious site with a history of 'perpetual friction' risks violence erupting again
-
Ssh! Secret gardens to visit this summer
The Week Recommends These leafy havens are the perfect place to escape the crowds
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
-
Trump criticized for firing BLS chief after jobs report
Speed Read Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer oversaw a July jobs report that the president claims was rigged
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness Test
Speed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele
Speed Read New constitutional changes will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect
-
Harris rules out run for California governor
Speed Read The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee ended months of speculation about her plans for the contest
-
Trump sets new tariff rates as deadline nears
Speed Read New tariff rates for South Korea, Brazil and India announced
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein