Federal judge tosses Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against the New York Times by basically saying “mistakes are mistakes, pull up your big girl pants, the NYT issued a correction, so suck it up buttercup.” OK the judge’s decision was more technical than that, but you get the point – PB/TK
Judge Throws Out Sarah Palin’s Defamation Case Against New York Times – By William Steakin (ijr.com) / Aug 29 2017
A federal judge in New York City dismissed former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times on Tuesday.
“Nowhere is political journalism so free, so robust, or perhaps so rowdy as in the United States.” Judge Jed Rakoff wrote in his opinion, adding, “In the exercise of that freedom, mistakes will be made, some of which will be hurtful to others.”
The former Republican vice presidential nominee sued the newspaper for defamation after it published an editorial which implied a connection between an ad Palin ran and the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, which resulted in six people killed and then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords being severely wounded.
According to Judge Rakoff’s opinion, Palin failed to show the newspaper published the editorial “with knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard of its falsity.”
The judge also said that “if political journalism is to achieve its constitutionally endorsed role … legal redress by a public figure must be limited.”
According to the lawsuit filed earlier in the summer, Palin claimed The New York Times accused her of “inciting a mass shooting at a political event in January 2011,” a claim the lawsuit states the newspaper “knew to be false.”
The New York Times did, however, issue a correction, saying the editorial “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords.”
Continue to ijr.com article: http://ijr.com/2017/08/960699-judge-throws-sarah-palins-defamation-case-new-york-times/
