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Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

#161

Post by Cyberdog »

robswc wrote: post #82
probably_wrong wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the lawyers made in the previous case what I consider an interesting argument: Alex Jones claimed under oath that his show reaches (off the top of my head) about a hundred million people. So the lawyer argued that Alex Jones should pay $1 for every person who heard him lie about Sandy Hook. By this measure, if I intentionally harass someone on Twitter I'd have to pay the victim about $50 (on a good day). Since…

If those were the reasonable standards, every media-company would be broke. I'd argue traditional media reaches many more people and the impact of intentional lies is that much greater.

> If those were the reasonable standards, every media-company would be broke.

I think that's a very interesting aspect of this decision. Alex Jones is a very easy person for some people to hate, but will those same people cheer on Trump suing news outlets over the piss dossier and other fabrications, or Kyle Rittenhouse suing people who reported he shot three unarmed black people? And these were things said by actual purported news outlets, not just a guy whose entire schtick is clearly intended to be more entertainment than actual information.

This decision could usher in a new era of fact-based news reporting if it manages to set legal precedent for cases from both sides of the political aisle. But I'm not sure if I can trust either judges or the media to take the next steps required to make that happen.

Re: Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

#163

Post by JumpCrisscross »

bushbaba wrote: post #77
toss1 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He may not pay that amount, but he will spend the rest of his life bankrupt or spending most of his energy avoiding judgement, which is a not unreasonable fate for people who make a living lying, cheating, and stealing.

Unless his primary residence is in Florida which the homestead act prevents the courts taking. He could then shift all his funds to Crypto and use Crypto ATMs that don't require KYC to withdraw a few thousand (per wallet) at a time. OJ is a prime example of how a truly wealthy individual can prevent the bulk of the wealth being taken from a court order.

> primary residence is in Florida which the homestead act prevents the courts taking

Under Florida law. Federal law, e.g. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, overrides it.

Re: Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

#164

Post by tptacek »

aschearer wrote: post #145

Quoted post unavailable.

(a) Stuff like this is supremely unhelpful and corrosive to the thread.

(b) It's obviously not the case that Jones is getting a sympathetic hearing from this thread; instead, you're noticing mostly the randos posting pro-Jones stuff that lives briefly before being flagged to the bottom of the site.

Re: Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

#167

Post by Pxtl »

zackees wrote: post #24
ivraatiems wrote: post #4

This is great news, but we should temper our expectations: It's likely that Jones will appeal and keep this tied up for years before he has to pay anything. Even if he is eventually obligated to pay some amount, it is unlikely to be what the jury just decided. And even if it is what the jury just decided, Jones' company is already "bankrupt" (yet still on the air) and he will almost certainly avoid liability through…

Quoted post unavailable.

Name a democratic country that does not have laws or torts against perjury and defamation.

"Free speech" has never been limitless. Fraud, libel, filing a false report, uttering threats, copyright infringement -- all grounds for a lawsuit if not a prison term in any respectable country.

Re: Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

#169

Post by pGuitar »

Pxtl wrote: post #134
stuckinhell wrote: post #104

Quoted post unavailable.

Analysis of their financials showed that, on good days, Jones' show would bring in $800K/day. Obviously that doesn't mean they have a billion in assets, but it does speak to how large their operation is.

Apple and other large businesses get fined nowhere near what they have in assets.... no matter how bad their actions are. One billion is just crazy in this case...

Re: Alex Jones told to pay $965M damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

#170

Post by hunterb123 »

criddell wrote: post #63
budder wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Jones didn’t speculate, he asserted that the shooting was a hoax and the victims on tv were paid actors.

Asserting one's opinion is speculating.

Personally I don't see how you can say he knew it to be false given his reputation as a conspiracy theorist.

You can't both think he is crazy and think that he knew it to be false, that would assume he is rational.

Hanlon's razor and all that.

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