In a move that already has the right wing howling for blood, the judge in Sarah Palin’s suit against the New York Times has dismissed the case even as the jury is still deliberating. WaPo:
A judge on Monday indicated he will dismiss Sarah Palin’s libel case against the New York Times, saying she had not met the legal standard showing that the newspaper acted with “actual malice” in publishing a 2017 editorial that included an inaccurate claim about her.
Judge Jed S. Rakoff told the lawyers involved in the case that he will formally issue his ruling after a jury that has been deliberating since Friday returns its decision.
The judge will allow jury deliberations to continue. He assumes Palin will appeal the decisions, and he wants future courts to have both his ruling and the jury’s decision to consider.
As I understand it, the judge ruled on a suit to dismiss filed by the New York Times. He said Palin simply hadn’t met the “actual malice” and “reckless disregard” standards set by the Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964). See also The Right vs. Freedom of the Press.
Palin appears to have tanked her own case by behaving like a ditz on the stand and in the courtroom. (At one point she yelled “Objection!” When told only the lawyers could do that, she said “I just thought it was funny.”) See especially Erik Wemple, Sarah Palin bombs on witness stand in New York Times trial and ‘All they had to do is dislike her a little less’: Palin lawyer slams NYT in closing argument.