Appeals court slashes Alex Jones’s Sandy Hook judgment from $50M to $1.5M
The unanimous ruling leaves compensatory damages intact but says Texas law capped the punitive award at $750,000 per plaintiff.
- On Friday, the Texas Third Court of Appeals reduced punitive damages against Infowars founder Alex Jones to $1.5 million, while upholding $4.1 million in compensatory damages awarded to Sandy Hook Elementary School parents.
- In a 2022 trial, a jury found Jones and Free Speech Systems liable for defaming Sandy Hook families after he repeatedly claimed the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, shooting was a 'hoax' perpetrated by 'crisis actors.'
- Judges found the trial court 'abused its discretion' by allowing parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis to amend their petition post-verdict, bypassing Texas's $750,000 statutory cap on punitive damages per plaintiff.
- This ruling does not affect the separate $1.4 billion Connecticut judgment against Jones, which remains intact; attorney Mark Bankston called the Texas decision 'irrelevant' given Jones still faces over a billion dollars in total liability.
- Jones vowed to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court to overturn remaining damages, while The Onion pursues acquisition of Infowars assets amid ongoing bankruptcy proceedings that have stalled proposed licensing deals.
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199 Articles
Court slashes Alex Jones’ Sandy Hook judgment by a whopping $43 million · American Wire News
Conspiracy theorist and provocateur extraordinaire Alex Jones just got a slight break in the hefty defamation costs he owes. Four years ago, a Texas jury in Austin awarded Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of deceased Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, about $50 million total in compensatory and punitive damages for the devastating lies that Jones had told about the Sandy Hook mass shooting. On Friday, the Texas Third Court of Appeals redu…
Roanoke Times
Court cuts Alex Jones conspiracy judgment
NEW YORK — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones won an appeal Friday in one family's defamation lawsuit over his false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook mass school shooting was a hoax, reducing the judgment against him from $50 million to…
Court slashes award Alex Jones was ordered to pay Sandy Hook parents
WASHINGTON — A Texas appeals court on Friday sharply reduced the $49 million award that a jury ordered broadcaster Alex Jones to pay the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim after he spread false conspiracy theories about the attack. The post Court slashes award Alex Jones was ordered to pay Sandy Hook parents appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
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