Supreme Court Rejects Alex Jones’ Appeal Over Sandy Hook Damages

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court declined an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Tuesday. This decision comes as Jones seeks to overturn a $1.4 billion libel judgment against him for false comments regarding the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre.

In 2022, juries in Connecticut and Texas found Jones liable for defamation and emotional distress caused to the families of the 26 victims, which included 20 first graders and six educators. Jones has tried to prevent the sale of his far-right media platform, Infowars, to pay the damages.

“The result is a financial death penalty by fiat imposed on a media defendant whose broadcasts reach millions,” Jones stated in his appeal to the Supreme Court, submitted in September. The families impacted by the tragedy waived their right to respond to Jones’ appeal, and the court did not require them to do so.

In a separate emergency appeal filed last week, Jones claimed his platform enjoys an average of 30 million daily listeners. He argued that without intervention from the Supreme Court, these audiences risk being misled by alternative media sources.

Earlier this year, Free Speech Systems, Jones’ parent company, was ordered to transfer its assets to a court-appointed receiver, paving the way for negotiations with potential buyers like the satirical news outlet, The Onion.

The Supreme Court did not provide an explanation for its decision to deny the appeal. Jones has not paid any part of the over $1 billion in damages the court ordered, despite being found liable for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

This story is breaking and will be updated.