First, a jury in Texas awarded the families of Sandy Hook $45 million in their defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones.
Then, yesterday, a Connecticut jury awarded $965 million dollars. But that’s not the bad news. (Oh, okay, yes, it’s the bad news. But it’s not the worst news.) There’s still another trial to go. And here’s the thing -- even that isn’t the worst news. That’s because the $965 million award yesterday was “only” for compensatory damages. There still could be punitive damages! In fact, in an interview on MSNBC, one of the lawyers for the families was asked if there could be punitive damages still to come, and he said, yes – and then added that it’s likely there will be. Oh, and that's not even all the “Worst News.” That's because the jury award doesn’t include legal fees he has to pay. And since the family lawyers were most-certainly working on contingency, that means probably 40% of the award – which is another $370 million. So, $1.335 BILLION. All of which makes Alex Jones’s pump-fisting, Happy Dance, real-time reaction to the jury announcement a really, really ill-advised action. Yes, yes, he’s declared bankruptcy. And yes, the award will likely be cut. So, no, the families will not get all that money, nor will the attorneys. And not one penny of that amount will compensate for the loss of their child. But even if the award is cut in half, and even if there are no punitive damages awarded (though, no doubt, there will be – and most likely it will be huge), that’s still $670 million. And there’s still another lawsuit pending. (And there's no absolute certainty that the judgement will be cut. A legal expert on Lawrence O'Donnell's show last night said that as far as he could tell, everything was done properly according to the law. So -- who knows?) Further, just because Alex Jones has declared bankruptcy, it doesn’t mean it has to be accepted. A bankruptcy judge carries a great deal of weight. And even if it is approved, you can be sure he will monitored meticulously for many years to come, to make sure the plaintiffs know when every dime comes in, so it can be garnished. It's possible too that Jones won't be able to purchase property, because of the kind of judgement this was. And however joyful Alex Jones is pretending to be, bankruptcy is not a Monopoly “Get Out of Jail Free” card. His financial life is ruined. A judgement of $965 million has that effect. And we just take a quick side note to Marjorie Taylor Greene, who no doubt spoke for many Alex Jones adorers -- no, Alex Jones was not "persecuted." He was sued. He had legal representation. A jury of his peers listened -- likely made up of Republicans and Democrats. They not only found him guilty, they found him SO guilty that they award a judgement of a BILLION DOLLARS. It's the justice system. That’s how it works. A core part of democracy. And it’s not shocking to know that Ms. Greene – and far too many on the extreme right – don’t grasp that. But there’s another impact that’s a result of the trial. And it has nothing to do with how much money was awarded. Nor does it have anything to do with even Alex Jones. It’s that this was a small window into looking how juries today look at the “I can lie however much I want to and defame whoever I chose” mentality that began with Trump and spread throughout the Republican Party. And there are three other very important defamation lawsuits currently pending. There is the defamation lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll against Trump after he called her a liar for claiming he raped her, and then smeared her further. Just yesterday, the judge in the case turned down Trump’s latest effort to delay his sworn deposition and said he most appear next week. There is also the $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting against Mr. MyPillow. It’s a case he seems almost blissfully ignorant of its weight, since he keeps going out in public and repeating the very things he’s being sued for, about how the election was stolen, and Dominion Voting machines are at the heart of it. And finally there is the $1.7 billion defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting against “Fox News.” Fox is clearly very concerned about this, so concerned that when it became clear that Dominion was seriously moving towards suing, the channel changed course and had its on-air personalities stop smearing Dominion. This is known in legal circles as much too little, much much much too late. Certainly, all three of these cases are different from the lawsuit(s) against Alex Jones. But the results so far (totaling a minimum of $1.010 billion) can’t give anyone with an upcoming political-based defamation lawsuit filed against them even a moment’s comfort. Nor should it.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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