SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Nov 12 –
In the case of Sarah Palin
versus New York Times and
James Bennet, on July 24, 2020
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Jed S. Rakoff held oral
arguments. Inner City Press
live tweeted them - and now
the 2022 trial, below.
After Judge
Rakoff said he would dismiss,
and some jurors saw it on push
notifications on their phone
and followed suit, a telephone
conference was held on
February 23 and Inner City
Press covered it, here.
It was short, and
resulted in this: "Minute
Entry for proceedings held
before Judge Jed S. Rakoff:
Telephone Conference held on
2/23/2022 with court reporter
Khris Sellin. Plaintiff's post
trial motions not to exceed 50
pages, all motions in a single
submission. Defendants'
response not to exceed 50
pages, replies are limited to
15 pages."
On May 31, Judge
Rakoff denied Palin's motions.
On June 30, the
New York Times filed for
$46,331.11 in costs from Palin
including transcript costs and
pro hac vice fees, a hotel
stay and witness fees (and
subsistence fee) for Ross
Douthat of New Haven.
Jump cut to
August 28, 2024 when a three
judge panel of the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals
ordered a new trial for Palin:
several major issues at
trial—specifically, the
erroneous exclusion of
evidence, an inaccurate jury
instruction, a legally
erroneous response to a
mid-deliberation jury
question, and jurors learning
during deliberations of the
district court’s Rule 50
dismissal ruling—impugn the
reliability of that verdict.
The jury is sacrosanct in our
legal system, and we have a
duty to protect its
constitutional role, both by
ensuring that the jury’s role
is not usurped by judges and
by making certain that juries
are provided with relevant
proffered evidence and
properly instructed on the
law. We therefore VACATE and
REMAND for proceedings,
including a new trial." 56
page Order on Patreon here.
The mandate from
the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals remanding this case
for a new trial has now
issued. Accordingly, the Court
will convene a telephonic
conference, on the record, on
Tuesday, November 12, at
11:30am to set a trial date,
which under no circumstances
will be later than February
2025, and, if the parties
prefer, can be as early as
mid-December 2024.
On November 12,
Inner City Press covered the
proceeding. From the thread:
Judge Rakoff: I
am going to schedule the new
trial for March 17 Lawyer: I
have a trial in Pennsylvania-
Judge Rakoff: Fine then.
February. When's your March
trial? NYT lawyer: March 10.
It's a patent trial. Judge
Rakoff: I'm taken aback.
Judge Rakoff:
When I was a lawyer I went
before a judge who set trials
only 3 days ahead - and it
worked. This is a re-trial.
Why more than a week to
prepare for it? I don't
understand. I'm glad you have
such a busy trial
schedule. I'll put it
down for March 31
2d lawyer:
I have a trade secrets case
down here in Florida. So this
helps me. Judge Rakoff: Very
good. If you want to be
referred to a Magistrate for
settlement discussions, I can
do that on 24 hours
notice. NYT's lawyer:
I'll have only 1 week, I beg-
May 1?
Judge
Rakoff: This is what my
grandmother called hondling
Lawyer: Mine did too. Judge
Rakoff: How about April 14?
Lawyer: I go to a jazz
festival with my college
friends from Tulane
Judge Rakoff: I
was a trial lawyer for 25
years. But 95% of all cases
ultimately settle. So some of
those trial will not go
forward. One of my great
experience was on the rocket
docket of the Eastern District
of Virginia. But I'm allowing
you to push me to April
Judge:
Adjourned
The case is
Palin v. The New York Times
Company, 17-cv-4853-JSR
(Rakoff)
***
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