Federal court reinstates Palin libel lawsuit against New York Times.

The lawsuit against the New York Times brought by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been revived by a federal court.

In 2017, Palin, a former Republican vice presidential candidate, filed a lawsuit against an outlet that published an editorial accusing her campaign of encouraging the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabby Giffords. The editorial was published on the day of a mass shooting at a congressional baseball practice game.

Palin sued the newspaper for publishing false information with the intention of damaging her reputation.

In February 2022, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed a lawsuit during jury deliberations, allowing the jurors to continue and ultimately rule in favor of the New York Times. However, lawyers noted that some jurors received notifications from the outlet during deliberation announcing the judge's dismissal.

On Wednesday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed the dismissal and verdict of a lawsuit against Rakoff, ruling that he made a series of errors that warrant a retrial.

According to 2nd Circuit Judge John Walker Jr., the dismissal was justified because it is clear that an average jury's verdict would be influenced if several jurors were aware that the judge had already ruled in favor of one of the parties on the same issues they were tasked with deciding.

According to Walker, a jury's verdict reached with the knowledge of the judge's already-announced disposition of the case will rarely be untainted, regardless of what the jurors say upon subsequent inquiry, addressing claims from jurors that the dismissal and subsequent notifications did not affect their decision.

The court observed that there were other problems with Palin's lawsuit, including limitations on her allegation that James Bennet, the editorial page editor, used unfounded accusations against her to benefit his brother, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.

Palin's legal team considered the ruling a significant advancement in the process of holding publishers responsible for misleading readers and the public.

Lawyer Shane Vogt stated that Governor Palin is eager to present her case to a jury that has been given relevant proffered evidence and has been properly instructed on the law.

The New York Times expressed disappointment with the ruling, but is confident that the lawsuit will be dismissed again in a retrial.

The appeals court ruled that Rakoff was not biased against Palin and was still qualified to preside over the retrial.