# About fucking time. The Sandy Hook families are suing Alex Jones for defamation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612 "2018-04-18T03:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/121 "2023-01-21T21:53:10Z")
Not to belabor the point but if you’re making a joke that requires others to watch a video to get, it’s not going to land for some. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/122 "2023-01-21T21:53:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m not going to watch the video, but on December 2, I linked to a CNN article that he declared personal bankruptcy. So what is the new news? I think the news is that he _initiated proceedings_ for bankruptcy back then, and now it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/123 "2023-01-21T22:07:35Z")
I think it’s far from done. From Devin’s video, sounds like there will be a bankruptcy trustee whose job, among others, is to filter through his bullshit and find the $$$$$$$$$. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/124 "2023-01-21T22:14:33Z")
Devin notes in the video that Jones is taking advantage of a law meant to help small businesses in bankruptcy. Jones’ business really does not qualify but a loophole seems to let him do it. In a big business, the trustee takes control of operations. With this faster, smaller rule, the individual can retain control of the business (in this case, Jones) even though there is a trustee. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/125 "2023-01-22T23:59:25Z")
I got it without the video. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/126 "2023-10-20T01:37:55Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > I think it’s far from done. From Devin’s video, sounds like there will be a bankruptcy trustee whose job, among others, is to filter through his bullshit and find the $$$$$$$$$. Update: > **[Alex Jones must pay $1.1 billion of Sandy Hook damages despite bankruptcy,...](https://www.reuters.com/legal/alex-jones-cant-avoid-sandy-hook-verdicts-bankruptcy-judge-2023-10-19/)** > > Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled... From that link: > Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday. > > Bankruptcy can be used to wipe out debts and legal judgments, but not if they result from “willful or malicious injury” caused by the debtor, according to a decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston, Texas. > > Courts in Connecticut and Texas have already ruled that Jones intentionally defamed relatives of school children killed in the mass shooting, and they have ordered Jones [to pay $1.5 billion in damages.](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/alex-jones-files-bankruptcy-following-sandy-hook-verdict-court-filing-2022-12-02/) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/127 "2023-10-20T13:25:12Z")
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/128 "2023-10-20T20:30:14Z")
AIUI, Jones has transfered lots of his money to relatives or friends just to avoid having to pay it as damages. So the question is, how much of that will they be able to find and claw back? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/129 "2023-10-21T23:54:57Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Get it? He is morally bankrupt. He has no morals. He’s a bad guy. Is he [emotionally exhausted,](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/88/d1/1f/88d11fbec943ad523437c1e93dc9f7ba.jpg) too? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/130 "2023-10-22T00:08:47Z")
Why can’t this scum be tried in criminal court for what he’s done and the harm he’s caused these people? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/131 "2023-10-22T00:14:10Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Why can’t this scum be tried in criminal court for what he’s done and the harm he’s caused these people? - Under what criminal charge? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/132 "2023-10-22T00:27:18Z")
That’s my question. Is there a criminal charge against his vile actions? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/133 "2023-10-22T00:32:41Z")
In the US almost all speech is protected. Even vile speech. While you can sue in a civil court for damages (as was done here), it is not usually a crime. There is one narrow exception to this that the US Supreme Court has carved out: > In the United States, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment. Courts extend this protection on the grounds that the First Amendment requires the government to strictly protect robust debate on matters of public concern even when such debate devolves into distasteful, offensive, or hateful speech that causes others to feel grief, anger, or fear. (The Supreme Court’s decision in [Snyder v. Phelps](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/09-751.ZS.html) provides an example of this legal reasoning.) Under current First Amendment jurisprudence, hate speech can only be criminalized when it directly incites imminent criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence targeted against a person or group. - [SOURCE](https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/hate) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/134 "2023-10-22T00:53:43Z")
I was thinking something along the lines of incitement, but, yeah, I get that it’s not this scum’s fault that his followers are a different kind of scum. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/135 "2023-12-16T19:10:21Z")
Do you think the families should take this deal (below)? There is no way they will ever get the full judgement but this seems getting off too easy (IMO): > **[Alex Jones offers $55m to Sandy Hook families to satisfy $1.5bn judgment](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/16/alex-jones-55m-sandy-hook-families-billion-dollar-judgment)** > > Families of the slain schoolchildren had earlier proposed an $85m settlement for the Infowars host’s lies about the 2012 massacre ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/136 "2023-12-16T19:21:27Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > this seems getting off too easy Particularly since Elon Musk has, in effect, pledged to promote Jones on the ex-Twitter–which will surely have the effect of increasing Jones’ income. > **[Alex Jones Gains 800,000 Followers on Elon Musk’s X in Three Days](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/12/15/alex-jones-gains-800000-followers-elon-musks-x-three-days)** > > Just three days after Elon Musk reinstated Alex Jones on X, his reboot of Twitter, the bigot and conspiracy propagandist has gained over 800,000 followers. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/137 "2023-12-16T19:24:50Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Do you think the families should take this deal (below)? 3.7 cents on the dollar for a settlement. I’d tell him to go pound sand, and hire some bulldog attorneys to go after every cent. I’d rather sell the debt to a company who will use every possible method to extract the cash. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/138 "2023-12-16T19:32:01Z")
I agree. And, I get the sense that many of those suing really are not in it for the money. They’d rather put the screws to Jones and never let up forever given what he did. I wouldn’t blame that for that…totally get it. I guess it is a matter of how much they want this mess in their lives and how much they feel the need to just move on. Maybe selling to a debt collector is the best option. I just wonder if there are debt collectors who can write a check big enough to takeover here? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/139 "2023-12-16T21:14:50Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Do you think the families should take this deal (below)? There is no way they will ever get the full judgement but this seems getting off too easy (IMO): Well, it could be just an opening bid. Maybe he’s prepared to negotiate and ultimately will over 2 or 3 times that. At which point, you’re talking serious money and perhaps made your point (and he’s not good for the whole amount regardless). They have great lawyers and will get good advice on how to proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612/140 "2023-12-16T21:25:28Z")
Note that about three weeks ago, the families [proposed](https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-bankruptcy-sandy-hook-shooting-infowars-4d3323728cf2d5f8da36ae0d2fd3994a) that he “pay them at least $8.5 million a year for 10 years — plus 50% of any income over $9 million per year.” So his current offer of $5.5 million a year for ten years along with “all of the disposable income from Free Speech Systems—InfoWars’ parent company—in addition to half of Jones’ income for five years and a quarter of his income over an additional five years” isn’t _that_ different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-fucking-time-the-sandy-hook-families-are-suing-alex-jones-for-defamation/812612.md?page=8)