Appeals court revives Sarah Palin defamation lawsuit against New York Times — again

• A federal appeals court for the second time overturned the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin against The New York Times, and ordered a new trial in the case.
• Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, alleges she was defamed by a Times editorial that suggested the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona was linked to a digital graphic published by Palin's political action committee the prior year.
• Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff has twice tossed out Palin's suit.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday for the second time overturned the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin against The New York Times, and ordered a new trial in the case.

Palin, who was the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, alleges she was defamed by a Times editorial in 2017 that suggested the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona was linked to a digital graphic published by Palin's political action committee the prior year.

The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2019 reinstated Palin's lawsuit after it was first dismissed by Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who had ruled she did not sufficiently plead a claim of "actual malice" in her complaint.

On Wednesday, the same appeals court said that Rakoff, in the midst of jury deliberations at a February 2022 trial on the suit, erred again by ruling in favor of The Times and dismissing the complaint after finding that no reasonable jury could find The Times was motivated by actual malice against Palin.

Rakoff told lawyers he would dismiss the suit only after the jury returned its verdict. Jurors later ruled that The Times was "not liable" for the allegations.

In the appeals court's