Texas court slashes Alex Jones Sandy Hook judgment to $1.5M

A Texas appeals court has reduced the $50 million judgment against Infowars founder Alex Jones to $1.5 million, a partial legal victory for Jones in a case stemming from his false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. The unanimous ruling by the Texas Third Court of Appeals found that Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis did not provide sufficient evidence of harassment to exceed the state's $750,000 cap on punitive damages per plaintiff Source: AP News. The court left intact more than $4.1 million in compensatory damages, bringing Jones's remaining liability in the Texas case to about $6 million Source: CNN.

The decision does not affect the larger Connecticut judgment against Jones, which stands at $1.25 billion Source: Al Jazeera. Jones has yet to pay any of the damages, as he continues to appeal and his company, Free Speech Systems, remains in bankruptcy Source: AP News. Jones called the ruling "a gigantic victory for the First Amendment" and said he will appeal to the state Supreme Court Source: The Guardian.

Families' attorney Mark Bankston dismissed the ruling as "irrelevant," noting it affects only two of the 19 claims and that Jones still faces over a billion dollars in liability Source: CNN. The Connecticut judgment was previously reduced by about $150 million during appeals, and Jones's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied last year Source: AP News.

Jones gave up the Infowars brand in April but continues to broadcast on new websites and his personal X account Source: Al Jazeera. The Onion has moved to take over Infowars' platforms and turn them into parody sites Source: AP News.