New York Times faces revival of Sarah Palin defamation lawsuit.

• The federal appeals court reversed the dismissal of Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and ordered a new trial.
• In 2008, Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, claimed that a Times editorial defamed her by suggesting the 2011 shooting of Rep. Giffords was linked to a graphic published by her political action committee the previous year.
• Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff has twice tossed out Palin's suit.

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court reversed the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit brought by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin against , and ordered a new trial.

In 2017, Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, claimed that she was defamed by a Times editorial that linked the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona to a digital graphic published by Palin's political action committee in 2010.

In 2019, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff's decision to dismiss Sarah Palin's lawsuit, ruling that she had sufficiently alleged "actual malice" in her complaint.

On Wednesday, the appeals court ruled that Rakoff made a mistake during jury deliberations in a February 2022 trial by ruling in favor of The Times and dismissing the complaint, despite finding that no reasonable jury could find The Times was motivated by actual malice against Palin.

Rakoff informed lawyers he would discard the lawsuit until the jury rendered its decision. The jury determined The Times was "not responsible" for the accusations.

The appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Rakoff's decision to dismiss the lawsuit was improper because it interfered with the jury's role in making credibility determinations.

The appeals panel in its decision highlighted several major issues at trial, including the "erroneous exclusion of evidence, and inaccurate jury instruction," a "legally erroneous response" by Rakoff to a question from jurors, and "jurors learning during deliberations of" Rakoff's dismissal of the complaint.

Our legal system values the jury's role, and we must safeguard its constitutional function by preventing judges from taking over its duties and ensuring that juries receive relevant evidence and proper legal instructions.

"We, therefore, vacate and remand the proceedings for a new trial, in accordance with this opinion."

A spokesman for The Times, Charlie Stadtlander, stated that the decision was disappointing.

Stadtlander stated, "We are confident in our ability to succeed in a retrial."

An attorney who represented Palin in her appeal, Shane Vogt, stated that Governor Palin is pleased with the decision, which is a significant step towards holding publishers responsible for misleading content that misleads readers and the public.

Vogt stated that Governor Palin hopes to have a fair trial with relevant evidence and proper legal instructions, as outlined in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' opinion.