Supreme Court declines Alex Jones challenge to defamation judgement

In 2022 it was ruled that the conspiracy theorist would person to wage $1.4bn to families of the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School wide shooting which, helium claimed, was a hoax.

The United States Supreme Court declined to perceive a situation by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to a $1.4bn judgement awarded to families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School wide shooting successful Connecticut implicit the Infowars website founder’s mendacious statements that the 2012 incidental was a hoax.

The precocious tribunal made the determination connected Tuesday.

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The justices turned distant his entreaty of the Connecticut Appellate Court’s determination successful a defamation suit against him to uphold astir of the judgement issued by a justice and assemblage successful 2022 to 14 household members of children and schoolhouse employees who were killed, and an FBI cause who responded to the shooting. In doing so, the apical US judicial assemblage near the judgement successful place.

Twenty-six radical – 20 students and six unit members astatine the schoolhouse successful Newtown, Connecticut – were killed successful the incidental by a 20-year-old erstwhile pupil who past fatally changeable himself.

Jones has argued that the judgement successful the suit brought against him successful Connecticut violated his rights nether the US Constitution to owed process and escaped speech. It is believed to beryllium the largest judgement successful US libel lawsuit history, according to his filing to the Supreme Court.

He besides mislaid a akin suit successful Texas, though the astir $50m judgement successful that lawsuit was acold lower. Jones is separately appealing that judgement. He declared bankruptcy aft losing the lawsuits.

Jones was sued for defamation aft calling the shooting a “false flag” cognition meant to disturbance up anti-gun-rights sentiment among Americans, and helium has said that the parents of slain children were “crisis actors” who were faking their grief successful tv interviews.

Jones refused to cooperate successful the ineligible proceedings. He has objected to the information that Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis determined helium was liable for defaming the parents, and that a six-member assemblage was asked lone to see however overmuch helium should pay. Jurors awarded compensatory damages of $965m successful the proceedings held successful the metropolis of Waterbury.

The justice then added $473m successful punitive damages, and an appeals tribunal aboriginal reduced that magnitude to $323m aft Jones appealed. In his entreaty to the Supreme Court, Jones challenged the archetypal $1.4bn sum.

Multiple cases

The verdict is truthful ample that it “can ne'er beryllium paid”, according to the filing, and a bankruptcy tribunal has ruled that Jones cannot usage his idiosyncratic bankruptcy to debar paying the debt.

In his filing to the Supreme Court, Jones said that the judge’s default judgement was based connected “small find errors” and “trivial” missteps by his lawyers, and led to an unfair trial.

Jones antecedently asked the US Supreme Court to intervene successful the Connecticut lawsuit successful 2021, aft Bellis imposed sanctions connected Jones for nationalist statements helium made during the litigation but earlier helium was recovered liable for defamation. The Supreme Court declined to instrumentality the lawsuit astatine that time.

Jones is separately appealing his nonaccomplishment successful Texas, and is presently challenging a tribunal bid that would unit the merchantability of Infowars. Jones faces 2 much defamation lawsuits from different Sandy Hook parents and the household of a antheral who was falsely identified arsenic a schoolhouse shooter. Those cases person not yet gone to trial.