Sarah Palin Wins Appeal Reviving Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

(Law and Crime) Jerry Lambe August 6th 2019 10:18 am A federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday reinstated Sarah Palins defamation lawsuit against the New York Times overturning a district courts ruling which dismissed her claim in 2017. The three-judge panel ruled that the lower court was wrong to use an unusual process" in determining the validity of Palins claim vacating the decision and sending the case back to the District Court for discovery. This case is ultimately about the First Amendment but the subject matter implicated in this appeal is far less dramatic: rules of procedure and pleading standards" Circuit Judge John M. Walker wrote. In 2017 United States District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff held an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Palins complaint against the Times properly alleged all the required elements of a defamation claim. Rakoff then relied on the evidence adduced at that hearing to dismiss Palins complaint under the Federal Rules of Procedure 12(b)(6) meaning Palin failed to state a claim upon which relief can legally be granted. Nowhere is political journalism so free so robust or perhaps so rowdy as in the United States" Rakoff wrote in the ruling. In the exercise of that freedom mistakes will be made some of which will be hurtful to others." However according to the Second Circuits ruling Tuesday Rakoffs reliance on any facts outside of Palins original complaint was improper and grounds for reinstating Palins claim. We find that the district court erred in relying on facts outside the pleadings to dismiss the complaint. We further conclude that Palins Proposed Amended Complaint plausibly states a claim for defamation and may proceed to full discovery."