Lol! The Jurors are not Even Sequestered!

 It's just a civil trial, so no reason they'd be, but... seriously, Judge?  What a ... snafu this is becoming.

"If you see anything in the media about this case, just turn away," the judge told jurors before dismissing them for the day.

Yeah, that's gonna work.  Lotsa integrity in the jury decision now, I am sure.  

"Honey, I make you a nice meal, happy Valentines', *kiss, kiss* you still on that case?  I heard it's all over, the newspaper won, the judge announced today?  Whatchoomean they want you back again in the morning to deliberate?  That case is over, baby.  You sleep in..." 

Rakoff said he expected Palin to appeal, and that the appeals court "would greatly benefit from knowing how the jury would decide it."

The judge's action effectively takes the case out of the hands of jurors, in a trial that began on Feb. 3.

Lawyers for the Times and Palin were not immediately available for comment.

Rakoff, an appointee of Democratic former President Bill Clinton, said he was "not altogether happy" about ordering a dismissal, calling the original editorial "an example of very unfortunate editorializing on the part of the Times."  ...

Bennet inserted language that said "the link to political incitement was clear" between the Giffords shooting and a map previously circulated by Palin's political action committee that the draft editorial said put Giffords and 19 other Democrats under crosshairs.

The Times corrected the editorial about 14 hours later. Bennet testified that he made the additions too quickly under deadline pressure, and intended no harm to Palin. 

His brother is a prominent Democratic politician.  

Maybe he internalized his biases and honestly did not recognize them, but what he did "is clear".  

This should go to the Court (and they should discount the jury's decision considering the judge's "unique" timeline), in light of the "new media" 's lax standards by the old players in the new industry.  

The playing field has changed, perhaps we should revisit the rules of the game in response now too, so that one side does not automatically hold all the power, with essentially no "checks" from within or without on its limits or overreach in false reporting and editorializing with false and potentially deadly facts.

We're better than that in America.  We don't want that type of sell-out press here.