Alex Jones fined $42.5 million in punitive damages in defamation case
Today's sentence brings the total damages against Jones up to nearly $50 million for his statements about the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook
Aux News Alex Jones
One day after its defendant was be hit with $4.1 million in compensatory damages—and not long after it provided one of the all-time great videos of online schadenfreude in the process—the trial of Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis versus InfoWars host Alex Jones has now dropped a much bigger bombshell: A sentence of $42.5 million in punitive damages levied against Jones.
This is per CNN, which reports that plaintiff attorney Wesley Todd Bail didn’t mince words when addressing the jury before the sentencing, asking them to “send a very very simple message, and that is, stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies. Please.”
The Heslin and Lewis case is the first of several civil cases Jones is currently facing, after being accused of defaming the parents of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Heslin and Lewis, the parents of one of the kids killed during the shooting, both testified at the massive amounts of hate and violence directed at them after Jones began talking on his show about theories that the shooting had been faked, calling it “a giant hoax”; you probably remember it from being some of the vilest shit you’d been exposed to online at the time. Jones testified this week that he now believes the shooting was “100 percent real.”
Both today’s punitive damages, and the previous $4.1 million in compensatory damages, will go to the family. Jones’ attorney stated their intent to appeal, citing a cap in Texas on punitive damages that’s just $750,000 per plaintiff. She also noted that Jones will continue to go on the air “today, he’ll be on the air tomorrow, he’ll be on the air next week.” (Indeed, footage of Jones’ apparent post-verdict InfoWars broadcast, in which he appears to be grunting and howling like a far-less-sympathetic or impressive version of a stuck pig, has already been circulating online.)
49 Comments
How much are the lawyers going to get?
Still not enough.
Agreed. While it will hit him in the pocketbook, he still has more than enough money to remain on the air and spew his hateful lies.So, yeah, its nice that some suffering people will get lots of money, ultimately this didn’t accomplish much.
It’s not over yet.
The horrible thing is that even if they took every cent he has and will have in the future, people will still give him money to spew his awful lies.
Oh, he’s got like 19 more of these coming down the pike. Fucking scumbag.
Watching an army of children cut his head off in the middle of Times Square wouldn’t be enough.
True, but this sets the table for the cases in Connecticut. Everything that transpired in the Texas trial, including Jones’ admission of perjury, is admissible. This trail was basically the first round of Jeopardy! Round two is coming up and the points are double.
I mean given it got capped at $750k per person so that’s all he actually has to pay, definitely not.
If you asked me how much he should pay it would be something like this.
What an ugly bastard.
Yeah, and his appearance isn’t that pleasing, either.
He’s an onion of ugly.
Like an old catcher’s mitt with a face
Will he have to pay that or will there be one of those laws on punitives here where the jury affording barely any compensatory damages means he gets away fairly easily?
Reynal objected to the decision, arguing that the verdict did not comply
with Texas law, which caps the actual award at $750,000 per plaintiff.
The judge acknowledged the objection and added that the law implies that
in the state “we don’t trust our juries.”https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alex-jones-must-pay-45-million-punitive-damages-family-sandy-hook-mass-rcna41738So it’s capped at $1.5M.I don’t know why they make the jury go through trouble of deciding on a real number, when it’s actually meaningless. I’d be pissed if I was on the jury.
I’m no lawyer, but I’ve seen some credible arguments from Texas lawyers that the cap on punitive damages may not be constitutional, so we’ll have to see how it plays out in appeals.
What an insanely stupid law.
The reporting on this aspect has varied. Some outlets (like Bloomberg) have reported that punitives are capped at 2x the economic damages (compensatory loss or loss of earnings) + 2x $750,000. Others (like NYT) have reported that they are capped at 2x the initial award + 2x $750,000.Regardless, the parents’ attorney will likely challenge the constitutionality of the cap. Uphill battle, but if he’s successful, then they already have a defined award. The alternative would be that if he were successful, it would have to be remanded for a new trial on damages. Doing it the way the judge did in this case is more about efficiency.
Yeah, this shitstain needs to be hit with a Gawker-bankrupting level judgment
This article needs an editor.
This article needs an editor.- the AV Club
*sees header photo*Eww. Dude, I’m trying to eat dinner here.
I know that the quality of the AVClub has gone downhill since they moved to LA, but…One day after its defendant was be hit with $4.1 million in compensatory damagesI mean, it’s the first fucking sentence. Can’t you proofread your own material before you post it?
Haha, it’s getting worse all the time, but since I’m no longer getting paid to edit people’s assorted scribblings, I just don’t care. It internet, brah, word have meanings in spite or themselfs.
I think they write and submit this shit completely through voice-to-text, and don’t ever actually see the words
Go touch grass, man.
To be fair, if ownership is going to be downright negligent in terms of ensuring a quality product, I have trouble blaming the writers that much for just mailing it in.
But that would mean he actually said “was be hit.”
If their snark isn’t going to make sense, neither is mine
You don’t think they see be the words?
Gosh, what a shame.
What if he doesn’t pay or drags it out forever? OJ Simpson lost his civil suit and was ordered to pay $40 million, he has only paid like $150,000 so far.
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This.
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I’ll be amazed if he ever pays anyone ever.
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Texas law.
Ugh.
Texas law says that in cases like this one, the damages are limited to 750K per defendant.
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Not that I think he’ll pay any of it, ever.
I watched his response video after his awful day in court.
He was completely, totally, absolutely unrepentant, and I think they should’ve played some of THAT show before the judgment, because it was so obvious how little respect he had for the whole process, and then?
THEN?
He used this trial as an excuse to complain about being persecuted and threatened and so it was more important than ever to FUND him and BUY his various snake oils: vitamins, ‘survival’ gear, and supplements.
The man is the worst.
The money would be good for the victims in this case, but without knowing how much he really has, it’s hard to make sure he gives up an amount commensurate to the damage that he caused.Is there any way that the judgement can instead be converted to pounds of flesh? That, we can directly measure, and I’d say something like 70 or 80 pounds might be equivalent to $50 million.
You’d be doing the guy a favor by taking pounds of flesh from him.
Nah, he’s actually full of hot air.
lmao, fucking owned
Harness him to the Exploitocube. Bleed him forever while his organs power our space lasers.
At least he still has his looks.
The death penalty would be too good for this asshole.
Despicable lies aren’t the only thing Alex Jones is going to be coughing up these days.
well he is now 43 mil lighter , or thereabouts. And still a fat cunt.
Now we know. The man ate 42.5mill worth of chili.
Hbomberguy broke down this clowns business model really well, it works like the Nigerian email scam, which self selects only the most gullible people to respond, eceetobe else knows it’s obvious BS.Jones rambles about the most insane nonsense so only flat earther levels of clueless, dumb marks are left..then directs them to his website to spend thousands on overpriced supplements haha. After this case he stopped trying to make up horrible conspiracies about real people that can sue him and just comes up with irrational rants about war on Xmas and other imaginary crap. I’m all for free speech but when you’re actively causing that much harm, with extremely dangerous rants like anti vax nonsense or supporting Trump’s propaganda to forment a coup.. definitely deserve to be sued into oblivion
Remember: Schadenfreude means ‘shameful joy’. It’s not Schadenfreude unless you feel some pang of guilt deep down that makes you question why you’re even happy in the first place.
This is not that. Alex Jones deserves far worse. It’s perfectly normal to be happy about this outcome.