Professor Benjamin Zipursky was quoted in a Reuters article discussing the court’s ruling against Sarah Palin in her case against The New York Times.
A surprising and unusual ruling against Sarah Palin in her defamation case against the New York Times (NYT.N) has narrowed the former Alaska governor’s route to victory but the high-profile suit is far from over, legal experts said.
In an abrupt twist in a trial seen as a test of longstanding protections for American media, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff on Monday announced plans to throw out the lawsuit – even as jurors were still deliberating. The judge did not inform the jurors of his plan.
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One potential issue with Rakoff’s approach that Palin’s lawyers could raise on appeal is that there is a risk of jurors learning Rakoff’s views on the case, said Benjamin Zipursky, a law professor at Fordham University in New York.
The jurors have been instructed to not read about the case when they go home at night. But in the digital era it can be difficult to avoid news reports and social media posts about a high-profile trial, Zipursky said.