Skip to the story
All StoriesPoliticsConflict & SecurityBusiness & EconomyScience & TechHealthClimateMedia
All stories
Politics18 outlets ran this2 min read

Texas court reduces Alex Jones' Sandy Hook judgment to $1.5 million

Appeals court found parents did not prove harassment exceeded state damage caps.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge in Houston, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

What this story says

  • A Texas appeals court reduced a $50 million judgment against Alex Jones to $1.5 million.
  • The reduction is related to Jones' false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
  • The court found that Sandy Hook parents did not provide evidence that harassment exceeded the state's $750,000 cap per plaintiff.
  • A separate $1.4 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut is not affected by this ruling.

A Texas court has reduced a $50 million judgment against Infowars founder Alex Jones to $1.5 million. The ruling stems from Jones falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. This decision does not impact a separate $1.4 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut.

The Texas Third Court of Appeals determined that Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis did not present evidence showing that harassment stemming from Jones' claims surpassed the state's statutory cap of $750,000 in damages per plaintiff. Jesse Lewis, their son, was one of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut. Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, have filed for bankruptcy.

Disagreement on ruling details

The Associated Press and CTV News reported that the Texas Third Court of Appeals found parents did not show evidence that harassment exceeded the state's $750,000 cap on damages per plaintiff. Battlefords NOW reported that an appeals court cut the damages, ruling that the trial judge improperly allowed parents to exceed a statutory cap on damage awards.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mention that Alex Jones conceded during the trial that the attack was real and he was wrong to have lied about it. None of the right-rated digests mention that Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, have filed for bankruptcy.

Tags:#AlexJones#SandyHook#Defamation#TexasLaw#CourtRuling

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge in Houston, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Associated Press NewsLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

  • Eight left-rated reports led with the reduction of the $50 million judgment against Alex Jones to $1.5 million, noting it was for falsely calling the Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax. These reports included that the ruling does not affect a $1.4 billion judgment in Connecticut. Several mentioned that Jones and his company have filed for bankruptcy. The Associated Press, whose full report was carried by multiple outlets, noted that Jones conceded during his trial that the attack was '100% real' and that he was wrong to have lied about it. The Independent mentioned The Onion's satirical move to take over Jones' Infowars platforms.

Centre

  • Nine centre-rated reports focused on the court's reduction of the $50 million judgment against Alex Jones to $1.5 million, stating it was for falsely calling the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax. These reports also noted that the ruling does not affect a $1.4 billion judgment in Connecticut. The Texas Third Court of Appeals' reasoning, that parents did not show evidence of harassment exceeding the state's $750,000 cap on damages per plaintiff, was included in most of these digests. Several mentioned that Jones and his company have filed for bankruptcy.

Right

  • The single right-rated report led with the court slashing the $50 million judgment against Infowars founder Alex Jones to $1.5 million, over his false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. The digest noted that the ruling does not affect a $1.4 billion judgment in Connecticut.

Questions about this coverage

Is the coverage of Texas court reduces Alex Jones' Sandy Hook judgment to $1.5 million biased?
Texas court reduces Alex Jones' Sandy Hook judgment to $1.5 million is one event reported by several outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
How much was the judgment against Alex Jones reduced by in Texas?
A Texas court reduced a $50 million judgment against Infowars founder Alex Jones to $1.5 million. This reduction is specifically related to his false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting being a hoax.
Does this ruling affect the judgment in Connecticut?
No, the Texas court's reduction of the $50 million judgment to $1.5 million does not affect the separate $1.4 billion judgment against Alex Jones in Connecticut. That larger judgment remains in place.
What was the reason for the judgment reduction in Texas?
The Texas Third Court of Appeals found that the Sandy Hook parents did not provide sufficient evidence to show that the harassment they experienced exceeded the state's statutory cap of $750,000 in damages per plaintiff.

Read it at the source

18 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

8

Centre

9
Show 1 more

Right

1

Not rated

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

More in Politics

All Politics →
California’s 14th District elects Aisha Wahab in special runoff to replace Eric Swalwell4 min readCalifornia’s 14th District elects Aisha Wahab in special runoff to replace Eric SwalwellRead storyPrince Harry and Meghan Markle to return to UK without resuming royal duties5 min readPrince Harry and Meghan Markle to return to UK without resuming royal dutiesRead storyCanada Premiers Consider Resuming U.S. Alcohol Sales3 min readCanada Premiers Consider Resuming U.S. Alcohol SalesRead story
Alex Jones Judgment Reduced | MediaBias News