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Alabama Jury Awards Kai Spears $9.25 Million From NYT

8/21/2026

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Summary

Story summary

An eight-person Alabama jury awarded former player Kai Spears $9.25 million for defamation by The New York Times.
The verdict followed a nine-day trial in the Northern District of Alabama.
The Times had mistakenly named Spears as a passenger in Brandon Miller’s Jan 15, 2023 shooting.
The case marks the first U.S. defamation judgment against The New York Times in more than 50 years.

History

Historical Context

In 1964 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan that public officials must prove actual malice to win a defamation suit, overturning a $500,000 Alabama judgment. The precedent resurfaced in 2024 when an Alabama jury awarded former football player Kai Spears $9.25 million for alleged false reporting by the Times, prompting media outlets to tighten fact-checking.

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Story summary

An eight-person Alabama jury awarded former player Kai Spears $9.25 million for defamation by The New York Times.
The verdict followed a nine-day trial in the Northern District of Alabama.
The Times had mistakenly named Spears as a passenger in Brandon Miller’s Jan 15, 2023 shooting.
The case marks the first U.S. defamation judgment against The New York Times in more than 50 years.

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