FYI, this New York Times article (gift link) breaks down how much each plaintiff gets in damages for defamation or slander versus damages for emotional distress. IANAL but I believe all of that is considered compensatory, or actual damages.
And also, I believe he lost the suit by default for failing to turn over documents as ordered by the courts. So given that, I don’t see how he can appeal.
He can certainly appeal the default order. “I didn’t violate discovery orders, and even if I did, default was not the appropriate remedy.”
I’m not saying he’ll prevail, but he can appeal.
Worth noting that he can appeal without posting a bond, but it wouldn’t delay execution on the judgment. In other words, if he can’t post a huge bond (and I’m hoping he can’t) the families could start the process of collecting even while an appeal is pending.
I believe Jones structured his affairs to make it more difficult to collect (declaring bankruptcy) and the judgement might well be reduced on appeal if granted.
I have never seen or heard Infowars. First time I heard of Jones was in the wonderful book Them! where he seems more than a little disturbed. His more recent conduct is hard to fathom and I was pleased to see this verdict though it will likely be reduced, if any legal error can be challenged. On what other basis can appeals be accepted apart from an error of law?
I know Jones’ has very popular among his demographic for quite a while now, but I feel like the rest of the us weren’t more aware of him until Rush Limbaugh died. That seemed to be what moved him from the far right radio host* that you’d hear about once in a while because they said something controversial, to the far right radio host that you hear about all the time.
*Change ‘radio host’ to podcaster. When I think of Rush, I think of being a kid and hearing it on AM Radio any time I was in the car with my dad.
Sadly, I bet these peeps never see a dime, at least not for a long, long, long time.
Oh wow. He was in Them by Jon Ronson? I read that almost twenty years ago before I knew who Alex Jones was. Wonder what part it was. Need to reread.
It’s near the end. A bunch of old white movers and shakers, famous actors and retired world leaders and the like, got together to network at a sort of annual owl-themed summer camp in 2000, drank a lot, and put on the same play they did every year - an abstract play about gaining freedom by taking care of “Dull Care”. The gathering was called Bohemian Grove. Is it still a thing? No idea.
Ronson, Alex Jones and Jones’ buddy decide to dress like preppies and sneak into the event. Jones secretly filmed part of the get together, had a rather paranoid view of the slightly odd gathering and things in general, and seems to have misinterpreted things in a bizarre fashion (amusingly reported by Ronson). The episode apparently garnered Jones a lot of attention online from conspiracy theorists.
As usual, the YouTube channel LegalEagle has a good rundown of how this has all played out:
(18 minutes)
Here’s a little blurb to lift your spirits:
Infowars host Alex Jones and his company were ordered by a judge Thursday to pay an extra $473 million for promoting false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school massacre, bringing the total judgment against him in a lawsuit filed by the victims’ families to a staggering $1.44 billion.
Ahhhhhhh. That’s nice.
And froze his assets, I just saw…
Oh, yeah. That, too!
Judge awards 473 million in damages to sandy hook families.
And now he is two kinds of bankrupt.
What is the difference?
Now he can run for office!
I think it is his company is bankrupt and he is bankrupt.
But, if you watch the video, he is allowed by the courts to have $550,000/year (or more). Cuz he needs it somehow.
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?
The video details how Jones is taking advantage of the system and using loopholes in the law to benefit himself.
Explained in the very first few seconds of the video. He is bankrupt morally and personally.
Get it? He is morally bankrupt. He has no morals. He’s a bad guy.
