Title: Supreme Court Upholds $1.4 Billion Judgment Against Alex Jones

The Supreme Court has denied an appeal from Alex Jones, maintaining a $1.4 billion judgment against him for defamation related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The court's decision, issued on Tuesday, leaves intact the ruling that Jones falsely claimed the 2012 tragedy was a hoax orchestrated by crisis actors. This shooting resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut.

Jones, the host of Infowars, contended that the judge's decision to hold him liable for defamation and emotional distress was incorrect, arguing that a trial should have been conducted to assess the allegations made by the victims' families. The justices did not provide any commentary on their ruling and did not solicit responses from the families of the Sandy Hook victims regarding Jones' appeal.

In addition to the families, an FBI agent who responded to the shooting has also filed a lawsuit against Jones. Following his bankruptcy filing in late 2022, Jones' legal team informed the justices that the plaintiffs would likely be unable to collect the full judgment amount.

Jones is also appealing a separate $49 million judgment in Texas stemming from another defamation case, where he failed to provide requested documents to the parents of a Sandy Hook victim. In the Connecticut case, a judge issued a default ruling against Jones and his company in late 2021 due to his repeated noncompliance with court orders and failure to produce evidence for the Sandy Hook families.

A jury later determined that Jones owed $964 million, and the judge subsequently added $473 million in punitive damages against him and Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, based in Austin, Texas.

In November, an auction to liquidate Infowars' assets was won by the satirical news outlet The Onion, aimed at helping to satisfy the defamation judgments. However, a bankruptcy judge later invalidated the auction results, citing procedural issues with the bidding process. The liquidation efforts have since moved to a Texas state court in Austin, where Jones is appealing a recent ruling that appointed a receiver to manage the asset liquidation. Additionally, some of Jones' personal property is being sold as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.