Journalism of Courage
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from right-wing commentator Alex Jones, rejecting his effort to overturn a $1.4 billion libel judgment over false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, CNN reported.
Jones has faced legal pressure after juries in Connecticut and Texas found him liable in 2022 for defamation and emotional distress. The lawsuits stem from his repeated false statements that the shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators, was a hoax.
Jones argued in his appeal that the ruling amounted to “a financial death penalty by fiat imposed on a media defendant whose broadcasts reach millions,” CNN reported. He also warned in a separate emergency appeal that without intervention, his platform, Infowars, which reportedly reaches 30 million daily listeners, would deprive viewers of a “valued source of information” and risk them being “greatly deceived and damaged,” according to CNN.
Earlier this year, a judge ordered that Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, be handed to a court-appointed receiver, who will sell the assets to pay the damages. Jones has not yet paid any of the $1.4 billion owed to the Sandy Hook families.
As is typical, the Supreme Court did not provide an explanation for rejecting the appeal, and the families waived their right to respond, CNN reported.
