Jury Finds NY Times Did Not Defame Sarah Palin in Retrial

The loss marks the second time a jury has rejected Palin’s libel claims.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court in New York on April 22, 2025. Larry Neumeister/AP Photo

The second Manhattan jury to hear Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against The New York Times returned the same verdict as the first, finding on April 22 that the newspaper was “not liable” for defaming the former Alaska governor.

The jurors were speedy, returning the verdict within hours of starting their deliberations.

“We didn’t prevail in federal court against the New York Times. But please keep fighting for integrity in media. I’ll keep asking the press to quit making things up,” Palin wrote, responding to the decision via social media.

“Keep the faith,” she added.

Palin’s latest loss in federal court comes more than three years after another jury rejected her claims that a June 2017 New York Times editorial damaged her reputation and career as a political commentator by falsely linking her to a mass shooting.

That verdict was later nullified by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which cited several significant errors made by the trial judge. Those errors included excluding critical evidence, issuing improper jury instructions, and a mid-deliberation ruling that undermined the jury’s role in the process.

One of the more notable moments of the retrial came last week when James Bennet, a former New York Times opinion page editor, issued an emotional apology to Palin in court.

Choking back tears, Bennet told the former vice presidential candidate that he “blew it” when he incorrectly wrote that there was a “clear” and “direct link” between the 2011 mass shooting that severely injured then-Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Calif.) and a map circulated by Palin’s political action committee.

The map in question placed crosshairs over 20 congressional districts held by Democrats, including that of Giffords. The editorial, titled “America’s Lethal Politics,” inaccurately described that the crosshairs on the map were placed over the lawmakers themselves.

The piece, which advocated for stricter gun laws, was published on the same day that a gunman with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a congressional baseball team practice in Washington, wounding Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and three others.

Two days later, The New York Times published a correction clarifying the details of the map and that no link had been established between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting. The paper’s attorneys pointed to the swift correction as evidence that the editorial board’s actions were not malicious.

Palin said the damage was not rectified.

“This was the game changer,” she testified on April 21, describing the editorial’s effect on her life. “I felt defenseless. It just kicked the oomph right out of you.”

Palin noted that the publication’s correction did not identify her by name, making it difficult to restore her reputation “when the loudest voice in the room, the most credible, biggest publication, was making things up about me.”

Palin also said she received death threats in connection with the editorial.

“It got scarier. It got worse,” she said.

On cross-examination, Palin acknowledged that she is a best-selling author, has millions of social media followers, and remains welcome to speak at conservative political events.

Dave Paone, Chase Smith, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.