In a dramatic climax to one of the most polarizing defamation cases in recent U.S. history, the Connecticut Supreme Court has rejected Alex Jones’ desperate bid to revive a $1.4 billion verdict, dealing a crushing blow to the bankrupt Infowars host and conspiracy theorist.
The order, quietly filed Tuesday, did not elaborate on the justices’ reasoning. But with a gavel strike heard around the world, it left intact a ruling that holds Jones financially accountable for decades of anguish inflicted upon the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
A Defamation Judgment of Historic Proportions
The legal saga stems from lawsuits filed in 2018 by families of the Sandy Hook victims and FBI agent William Aldenberg, accusing Jones of peddling lies that the 2012 massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, was staged and that grieving families were “crisis actors.” The resulting harassment, including death threats, tore through the lives of the plaintiffs like shrapnel.
Though Jones eventually recanted his claims, the damage had been done.
In 2021, after repeatedly violating discovery orders and defying a protective order, Jones was hit with a default liability judgment. The subsequent trial handed down a jaw-dropping $1.44 billion in damages. That amount was later trimmed by $150 million by a Connecticut appellate court in December 2024, citing limitations under the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA).
