Sarah Palin Begins Her Second Attempt to Prove Libel

Sarah Palin is back in court Monday to once again make her case that the New York Times libeled her in 2017. As NPR notes, she lost her first attempt in a 2022 trial, but a "judge's misstep" has led to the second go-round that opens this week.

• Palin, a former Republican vice-presidential candidate and ex-governor of Alaska, claims the newspaper defamed her in a 2017 editorial. The editorial accused her rhetoric of inciting a mass shooting, and Palin says it damaged her reputation, per the AP.

• The newspaper admitted the error—there was no evidence the shooter had seen the Palin ad in question—but said it was an "honest mistake" that was corrected.
• The 2022 trial ended in unusual fashion. As the jury was deliberating, Judge Jed S. Rakoff dismissed Palin's claims but did not inform jurors. He said he would let them keep deliberating and set aside their verdict once it was reached. The jury subsequently ruled against Palin. However, some of the jurors learned of the judge's move through news alerts on their phones, and that was part of the reason the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals restored the case last year.
• The trial in federal court in Manhattan is expected to last a week.
• The Wall Street Journal notes that the "legal landscape" for the media industry has changed since 2022, with trust in major outlets declining amid heavy criticism from President Trump and others.