NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times did not libel former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a 2017 editorial that contained an error she claimed had damaged her reputation, a jury concluded Tuesday.
The jury deliberated a little over two hours before reaching its verdict. A judge and a different jury had reached the same conclusion about Palin's defamation claims in 2022, but her lawsuit was revived by an appeals court.
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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, left, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Palin was subdued as she left the courthouse and made her way to a waiting car, telling reporters: “I get to go home to a beautiful family of five kids and grandkids and a beautiful property and get on with life. And that’s nice.”
Later, she posted on the social platform X that she planned to “keep asking the press to quit making things up.”
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times spokesperson, said in a statement that the verdict “reaffirms an important tenet of American law: publishers are not liable for honest mistakes.”
Palin, who earned a journalism degree in college, sued the Times for unspecified damages in 2017, about a decade after she burst onto the national stage as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Her lawsuit stemmed from an editorial about gun control published after U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was wounded in 2017 when a man with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a Congressional baseball team practice in Washington.
In the editorial, the Times wrote that before the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that severely wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six others, Palin’s political action committee had contributed to an atmosphere of violence by circulating a map of electoral districts that put Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.
The Times corrected the article less than 14 hours after it was published, saying it had “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting” and that it had “incorrectly described” the map.
During the trial, former Times editorial page editor James Bennet tearfully apologized to Palin, saying he was tormented by the error and worked urgently to correct it after readers complained to the newspaper.
Palin testified Monday that death threats against her increased and her spirits fell after the editorial was published.
In his closing argument Tuesday, Palin's attorney, Kenneth Turkel, had urged the jury to find the Times liable for defamation on the grounds that Bennet either knew what he was publishing was wrong or acted with “reckless disregard” for the truth.
He asked the jury to award Palin compensatory damages for the harm done to her reputation and private mental anguish, adding that they should “find a number and let her get some closure to this thing.”
“To this day, there's been no accountability,” he said. “That's why we're here.”
He told jurors not to be deceived by Palin's “bouncy” persona on the witness stand.
“She doesn't cry a lot,” Turkel said. “It may have been to them an honest mistake. For her, it was a life changer.”
Felicia Ellsworth, an attorney for the Times, told jurors in her closing that there was not "one shred of evidence showing anything other than an honest mistake.”
Ellsworth said Bennet and the Times “corrected the record loudly, clearly and quickly” once the error was discovered.
The lawyer pointed out that several Times editors testified consistently about the effort to correct the error and the importance they placed on accuracy while Palin's claims were “supported by nothing other than her say so.”
“To Gov. Palin, this is just another opportunity to take on fake news. To James Bennet, the truth matters,” Ellsworth said.
In February 2022, Judge Jed S. Rakoff rejected Palin’s claims in a ruling issued while a jury deliberated. The judge then let jurors deliver their verdict, which also went against Palin.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan restored the case last year.
The appeals court said Rakoff’s dismissal ruling improperly intruded on the jury’s work. It also cited flaws in the trial, saying there was erroneous exclusion of evidence, an inaccurate jury instruction and a mistaken response to a question from the jury.
Turkel said as he left the courthouse that the legal team will evaluate whether to appeal again.
Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida constitutional law professor, told The Associated Press that the verdict Tuesday “was certainly not a sure thing” amid widespread distrust of news media.
And, Lidsky added, Palin put the newspaper's mistake in the public eye.
"Even if Sarah Palin didn’t win a jury verdict, she did, by bringing suit, achieve some likely goals,” Lidsky said.
Associated Press writer Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed to this report.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, left, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. A jury has concluded The New York Times did not libel Palin for an error in a 2017 editorial she says damaged her reputation. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
BEND, Ore. (AP) — Dozens of homeless people who have been living in a national forest in central Oregon for years were being evicted Thursday by the U.S. Forest Service, as it closed the area for a wildfire prevention project that will involve removing smaller trees, clearing debris and setting controlled burns over thousands of acres.
The project has been on the books for years, and the decision to remove the encampment in the Deschutes National Forest comes two months after the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to increase timber production and forest management projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk.
Deschutes National Forest spokesperson Kaitlyn Webb said in an email that the closure order was “directly tied to the forest restoration work.” Homeless advocates, meanwhile, seized on the timing on Thursday as U.S. Forest Service officers blocked the access road.
“The fact that they are doing this with such vigor shortly after they announced that the forests would be opened up for logging I don’t think is a coincidence," said Jesse Rabinowitz, spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, and the service’s Pacific Northwest Region did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
“The closure does not target any specific user group and will restrict all access, including day use and overnight camping, while crews operate heavy machinery, conduct prescribed burns, and clean up hazardous materials,” Webb said. “It’s not safe for the public to be in the area while heavy machinery is operating, trees are being felled, mowing operations are active, and prescribed burning is occurring.”
Campers who had set up trailers, recreational vehicles and tents amidst the ponderosa pines in the forest scrambled in the darkness Wednesday night to pack up and get their engines working again. Authorities closed the two-lane road in the early hours of Thursday morning, and it wasn’t immediately clear how many people were left in the forest by the afternoon, though some were unable to leave.
The U.S. Forest Service has been working for years on plans to close part of the Deschutes National Forest near Bend for forest restoration and wildfire mitigation. But the number of people living in that part of the forest has grown, with many losing homes during the coronavirus pandemic due to job losses and high housing costs, Rabinowitz said.
President Donald Trump’s administration has acted to roll back environmental safeguards around future logging projects on more than half of U.S. national forests, under an emergency designation that cites dangers from wildfires.
Whether the administration's move will boost lumber supplies as Trump envisioned in an executive order he signed in March remains to be seen. Former President Joe Biden’s administration also sought more logging in public forests to combat fires, which have become more intense amid drier and hotter conditions linked to climate change, yet U.S. Forest Service timber sales stayed relatively flat under his tenure.
The Cabin Butte Vegetation Management Project, a wildfire mitigation treatment on some 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares), is prompting the closures in the Deschutes National Forest.
The goal of the work is to reduce wildfire risk and restore damaged habitats where development encroaches on natural areas near Bend, Deschutes National Forest officials said in a statement. Recreation sites and trails in that area will be closed through April next year.
Multiple U.S. Forest Service officials and vehicles were stationed at the Deschutes National Forest road closure on Thursday. A sign on the metal gate blocking the road said the temporary emergency closure will last at least one year.
Violators could face up to six months in jail, fines up to $5,000, or both.
On Wednesday night, Mandy Bryant, who said she had lived in the encampment for about three years, was cleaning up her site and trying to get a trailer to start so she could move it.
“You could feel the heaviness in the air and just the stress and depression that people are feeling,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re up there on the list of groups of people that society doesn’t really care for.”
Four people living in the encampment including Bryant, along with two homeless advocates, filed for a restraining order to stop the closure. The claim argued it would cause irreparable harm to more than 100 people who were living there, many of whom have disabilities.
The government responded in court filings that U.S. Forest Service staff in January began notifying homeless people living in the area of the upcoming closure. Original plans for the project were published in 2019 and were authorized by the U.S. Forest Service in 2023, the court filings said.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane denied the restraining order on Tuesday and issued a written opinion on Thursday.
“The public’s significant interest in restoring natural habitats, preventing catastrophic wildfires, and preserving the overall health of Deschutes National Forest is not outweighed by the interest of 150 or so individuals in residing on this particular plot of land," he wrote in his ruling.
Webb, the Deschutes National Forest spokesperson, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the government’s goal is “voluntary compliance,” but Forest Service officers and staff will patrol and “enforce the closure and ensure public safety.”
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Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.
Greg Bishop, bottom center, who lived in a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, walks along a dirt road to check on camp sites for residents who have not lefts the encampment on Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A U.S. Forest Service vehicle drives down a dirt road past newly placed rock barrier towards a trailer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Chris Daggett, who lived in a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, pushes a scooter belonging to another resident as he helps to remove items for fellow campers on Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A tow truck driver helps removing a trailer for a person staying at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Debris lies scattered around a trailer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Debris lies scattered around a trailer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A trucking and logging vehicle, at left, drives past trailers lining China Hat Road as leaves an area that was closed off in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Jessica Gamble, who started the nonprofit Home More Network in 2022, right, looks on after reading text messages she received when a road to a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest was closed on Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A person talks to a U.S. Forest Service official about getting through a road barrier to collect their belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Nick Campbell vapes at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A flashlight from Mandy Bryant's shines on chairs propped up by trees at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A tiara rests on a seat as a woman writes in a journal at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A string of lights hangs on a tree above a memorial at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Greg Bishop works to get an RV to start at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Mike Shelton works to attach a hitch to a vehicle as he loads up his belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Nick Campbell looks up while talking to a volunteer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Greg Bishop works to get an RV to start at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Trailers and RVs are seen at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A woman looks up from writing in a notebook with the words "to be a princess" seen near the top of the page and a tiara next to her inside a trailer as her father works to get it to start, at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Chris Daggett works to get an RV to start so that it can be moved at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Mandy Bryant holds her dog as she talks with a neighbor at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Mike Shelton works to attach a hitch to a vehicle as he loads up his belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Mandy Bryant walks to help Mike Shelton with his trailer as they load up their belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A person walks to a tent at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
