By Corinne RameyIsabella Simonetti

A federal jury on Tuesday rejected former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's claims that the New York Times defamed her in an editorial about gun violence.

The verdict of not liable was the same conclusion a previous jury had reached in 2022 during the first trial in the case. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year ordered a new trial, finding that the judge acted improperly when he said, during jury deliberations, that he planned to dismiss the case.

Palin, a former Republican vice presidential candidate, sued the New York Times and its former opinion editor, James Bennet, in 2017. She argued that a Times editorial that year wrongly suggested that an ad circulated by her political-action committee inspired a 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz. "The link to political incitement was clear," said the original version of the editorial.

The Times quickly corrected the article online, in print and on social media.

Palin could appeal the verdict. A lawyer for Palin didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since the first trial, trust in mainstream media outlets has continued to erode, and many top news organizations have faced defamation lawsuits. The verdict shows that even against the new backdrop, jurors are willing to rule in favor of major media outlets, lawyers said.

"It reaffirms the centrality of the New York Times versus Sullivan case to press freedom in our country," said Floyd Abrams, a veteran First Amendment lawyer, referring to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a high bar for public officials to sue news outlets for defamation.

Write to Corinne Ramey at corinne.ramey@wsj.com and Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2025 15:52 ET (19:52 GMT)

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