Sarah Palin is back in court this week as she is once again suing the NY Times for defamation over an editorial which accused her of inciting the 2011 Tucson shooting. If you’re having deja vu that’s because this case already unfolded back in February 2022.
That trial ended when Judge Jed S. Rakoff decided Palin hadn’t presented enough evidence that the Times had displayed a reckless disregard for the truth while the jury was still deliberating. The next day the jury also sided with the NY Times, but there was a potential hitch because the jury had not been sequestered. In other words, it seemed possible the jurors may have learned about the judge’s decision prior to reaching their own. Obviously, there wasn’t going to be much resistance to siding with the Times if the jurors knew the judge had already done that.
And it turns out that’s exactly what did…
