Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million to Sandy Hook families
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/12/alex-jones-sandy-hook-verdict/
A Connecticut jury ordered Infowars founder Alex Jones to pay $965 million in damages to the families of eight victims of the Sandy Hook shooting for the suffering caused by years of lies that the massacre was a hoax.
The Connecticut case is one of three defamation suits filed against Jones by relatives of the victims, who have said that they hope to prevent other families from enduring similar abuse.
During this trial, Jones refused to share crucial evidence with the plaintiffs – including financial records and data on traffic to his websites – in violation of his legal obligations. Judge Barbara Bellis entered a default judgment against him holding him liable for defamation. The jury’s only task, Bellis said as deliberations began, was to determine “the extent of the harm.”
The size of the damages is a sign that jurors found a defendant’s conduct particularly reprehensible and harmful – and as a way of deterring future wrongdoing.
In August, a jury in a different case in Texas said Jones must pay nearly $50 million to the parents of Jesse Lewis, a six-year-old killed in Sandy Hook. The actual payout, however, will be far smaller due to Texas limits on such awards.
Apparently in Connecticut, there are no such limits.