Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Palin Defamation Suit Falls Short of Legal Standard

Former GOP Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against the NY Times was dismissed from US District Court in Manhattan as defective on its face. If. as alleged, the NY Times printed minor falsehoods in an editorial that were quickly corrected, the Palin cannot prove the necessary actual malice. As a public figure, Palin cannot make-out her defamation claim unless she can prove that the NY Times knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for their truth. Referring toe the alleged actions of the Times, the times, the federal judge stated, "negligence this may be; but defamation of a public figure, it plainly is not."

Read the story here. 

The Times referred to Palin's PAC distribution of images showing people in rifle site crosshairs as inciting violence against public officials. The statement was corrected to state that the crosshairs were placed over Congressional Districts on a map, and not on images of people.  See the image below for an example:

Image result for Palin crosshairs