Governor Palin Resumes Court Battle with New York Times After COVID Illness
A rare instance that a major news organization will have to defend itself against libel claims involving a public figure.

NEW YORK (AP) â Governor Palin was back in a New York City courtroom Thursday, more than a week after the start of a trial in her libel lawsuit against the New York Times was postponed because she tested positive for COVID-19.
After a jury was quickly selected, Ms. Palinâs attorney, Shane Vogt, told Manhattan federal court jurors in an opening statement to put aside their opinions about Palin and determine if the newspaper defamed her.
Ms. Palin will be the trialâs star witness. Sheâs seeking unspecified damages based on claims that an editorial in the Times hurt her budding career as a political commentator.
âWe come to this case with our eyes wide open and keenly aware of the fact weâre fighting an uphill battle,â Mr. Vogt said. âGive us a fair shot. Weâre not here trying to win your votes for Governor Palin or any of her policies.â
David Axelrod, an attorney for the Times, said the editorial that led to Ms. Palinâs lawsuit was not âa political hit jobâ and was about gun laws rather than Palin. He said there was no actual malice. He acknowledged the newspaper made a factual mistake in the editorial âand it acted as quickly as possible to correct that mistake.â
A scrum of journalists surrounded Ms. Palin as she headed into the courthouse. Asked what she hoped to accomplish with her lawsuit, she said, âJustice for people who expect truth in the media.â
A judge put off the trial last week to give an unvaccinated Ms. Palin time to get over any possible symptoms. Away from court, she caused a stir by being sighted dining out at an upscale Manhattan restaurant twice, both shortly before and after her positive test results were made public.
Ms. Palin, 57, has publicly said she wonât get the vaccine.
The Republicanâs defamation case survived an initial dismissal that was reversed on appeal in 2019, setting the stage for a rare instance that a major news organization will have to defend itself against libel claims involving a public figure.
Ms. Palin sued the Times in 2017, accusing it of damaging her reputation with an editorial about gun control published after Congresssman Steve Scalise, also a Republican, was wounded when a man with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a Congressional baseball team practice in Washington.
In the editorial, the Times wrote that before the 2011 mass shooting in an Arizona supermarket parking lot that severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others, Ms. Palinâs political action committee circulated a map of electoral districts that put Ms. Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.
In a correction two days later, the Times said the editorial had âincorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shootingâ and that it had âincorrectly describedâ the map.
The disputed wording had been added to the editorial by James Bennet, then the editorial page editor. At trial, the jury would have to decide whether he acted with âactual malice,â meaning he knew what he wrote was false, or with âreckless disregardâ for the truth.
Mr. Bennet has said he believed the editorial was accurate when it was published.