Alex Jones must pay

Started by Danno, Oct 12, 2022, 04:21 PM

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Danno

The conspiracy theorist The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $965 million to the families of eight Sandy Hook shooting victims and an FBI agent who responded to the attack for the suffering he caused them by spreading lies on his platforms about the 2012 massacre, a Connecticut jury found on Wednesday. $965 million to the families of eight Sandy Hook shooting victims and an FBI agent who responded to the attack for the suffering he caused them by spreading lies on his platforms about the 2012 massacre, a Connecticut jury found on Wednesday.
Just tap me on the head if I overstay my welcome

Romanticlover

He will file BK and they will get nothing.
Under the law you can't file BK for alimony, child support, taxes or Federal student loans...you can file BK for civil cases.
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dogwalker

It's ridiculous.  I guess the jury made a point about what they think the penalty should be but why award an amount that will never be paid?  That happens way too often and rarely benefits the plaintiffs.

Blkfyre

#3
Quote from: dogwalker on Oct 12, 2022, 08:44 PMIt's ridiculous.  I guess the jury made a point about what they think the penalty should be but why award an amount that will never be paid?  That happens way too often and rarely benefits the plaintiffs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/us/politics/alex-jones-sandy-hook-damages.html

"In all likelihood Mr. Jones does not have the money to pay Wednesday's award. In August a forensic economist estimated that Mr. Jones's empire was worth a maximum of $270 million, but that same month Mr. Jones put his parent company, Free Speech Systems, into bankruptcy. Mr. Jones claimed that a debt of $54 million — owed to a company he controls — had made him insolvent.

But Mr. Jones's annual revenues have topped $50 million in recent years from hawking diet supplements, survivalist gear and gun paraphernalia on his broadcasts. He has also used the Connecticut trial as well as a trial this past summer in Texas — in which he was ordered to pay two Sandy Hook parents about $50 million — to solicit donations to his legal fund and boost his product sales.

The Sandy Hook families have challenged the bankruptcy in court, saying the filing is an effort to avoid paying what are mounting damages awards.

Mr. Jones, unrepentant, livestreamed the jury's verdict on Wednesday on his Infowars show. "They covered up what really happened, and now I'm the devil," he said. "I'm actually proud to be under this level of attack."

So the idea is to make the judgments so high that he'll have to dissolve everything, sell everything and still go into bankruptcy, and probably liens against future income to make sure he can't just start up doing this all over again.

Romanticlover

I guessed right about him filing for BK.

I'm not an Alex Jones fan, I listened to one of his podcasts years ago and think he's a loudmouthed idiot but he has a 1st Amendment right to free speech since he's an entertainer not a journalist. I read stupid comments on social media by celebrities but I don't think they should be sued.
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Blkfyre

#5
Quote from: Romanticlover on Oct 13, 2022, 05:52 AMI guessed right about him filing for BK.

I'm not an Alex Jones fan, I listened to one of his podcasts years ago and think he's a loudmouthed idiot but he has a 1st Amendment right to free speech since he's an entertainer not a journalist. I read stupid comments on social media by celebrities but I don't think they should be sued.

I don't know why people believe the First Amendment trumps criminal liability. He is being sued for the same reason you can be sued for crying fire in a crowded theater. You have the first amendment right to do so, but as with the theater, his words caused harm to others and encouraged people to make death threats, and when told about it, he encouraged more people to do it, thus opening himself to being sued and losing as he did.

Romanticlover

Alex Jones didn't commit any crimes, he was sued in a civil court.
Q: Why don't the families go after the shooters mom who bought the weapons for her demented son?

A: Because she doesn't have any money
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bats

Quote from: Romanticlover on Oct 13, 2022, 09:39 AMAlex Jones didn't commit any crimes, he was sued in a civil court.
Right, but if the things that he said were protected by the First Amendment (as you claimed) he couldn't have been found liable. Got it?

Romanticlover

One of the problems with this country is we have stupid people on juries that believe everything a lying slimy lawyer says. Lawyers look for naïve stupid people to be on juries, after weeding out all the normal rational people what you end up with are the stupidest people in the county on juries.

"Jurors are people who are too stupid to get off jury duty" - unknown
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bats

Quote from: Romanticlover on Oct 13, 2022, 01:21 PMOne of the problems with this country is we have stupid people on juries that believe everything a lying slimy lawyer says. Lawyers look for naïve stupid people to be on juries, after weeding out all the normal rational people what you end up with are the stupidest people in the county on juries.

"Jurors are people who are too stupid to get off jury duty" - unknown
I think you're trying to say that the jury got it wrong by finding Jones liable. But you'd be dead wrong about that.

Juries are finders of fact. They don't interpret the law. One of Jones's attempted defenses was, undoubtedly, that the First Amendment protected the things he said. But that nonsense would have been knocked down by the judge before they even got to trial.

Why do you think we have defamation laws?


Romanticlover

Ok, fair enough.

I will ask you guys that think this award is ok this question: what amount would be excessive?
1. $2 billion
2. $5 billion
3. Any amount
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Blkfyre

Quote from: Romanticlover on Oct 13, 2022, 03:55 PMOk, fair enough.

I will ask you guys that think this award is ok this question: what amount would be excessive?
1. $2 billion
2. $5 billion
3. Any amount

His words caused the harassment of students and parents which resulted in 2 students and one parent committing suiced.

ANY amount isn't enough...

Romanticlover

If someone commits suicide over what a shock-jock says then they already had mental problems.
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bats

Quote from: Romanticlover on Oct 13, 2022, 07:43 PMIf someone commits suicide over what a shock-jock says then they already had mental problems.
I think you seriously underestimate the hell those families were put through as a direct result of Alex Jones's rantings. I'd say the people with mental problems are those he triggered with his lies.

Anyway, you can choose to become informed about the case or continue to offer your uninformed opinions.

Fathernature69

He is a dumb ass, give him his sign.

Sadly, his attorney will get the award reduced on appeal.  He didn't kill anyone, he stood up on TV and shot his mouth off,and made people mouth drop. 

The insurance company will pick up the tab for defence, he will likely agree to some sensitivity training, and you and I will 3% more next year for paying his claim.