US Supreme Court denies conspiracy theorist appeal of $1.4 billion defamation suit – JURIST
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday denied review of media personality Alex Jones’ appeal of the $1.4 billion judgment against him for damaging statements he made related to the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Jones sought review of a Connecticut court’s verdict against him, arguing that the ruling infringed on his speech rights as a media defendant. The Supreme Court denied the request, deferring the state court judgment without asking the families of the Sandy Hook victims to respond to Jones’ appeal.
Alex Jones is an American right-wing radio show host and conspiracy theorist. He is best known for his radio program, “InfoWars,” which airs out of Austin, Texas. In April 2013, Jones called the Sandy Hook shootings a “government operation” with “inside job written all over it” on his show.
Over the next five years, Jones continued to make similar statements and accused parents of Sandy Hook victims of faking and perpetrating the tragedy, leading to Jones’ followers harassing victim-families for years after the incident. In 2018, Sandy Hook parents filed defamation lawsuits against Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, for intentional emotional distress and trauma caused by his comments. In 2022, Judge Barbara Bellis ordered Jones and Free Speech Systems to pay $1.4 billion in damages, including $473 million in punitive damages.
Following the announcement of the Supreme Court’s denial, Sandy Hook victim attorney Christopher Mattei said, “We look forward to enforcing the jury’s historic verdict and making Jones and Infowars pay for what they have done.”
In 2021, Jones petitioned the Supreme Court to rule on the case following the Connecticut trial courts’ ruling, arguing on similar grounds. The court similarly denied the petition.
Around the time of the Connecticut court’s ruling, a Texas court issued a $45.2 million verdict against Jones in a separate defamation action brought by Sandy Hook parents. One parent joined the action after an InfoWars reporter claimed the man faked holding his dead son to trick the public into believing shooting reports.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 and claimed in his appeal that he has no plausible way of paying damages. Developing lawsuits and bankruptcy actions in Texas will determine how damages will be paid.
